Snowflakes
by Libby16
Summary: Chihiro remembers nothing of the spirit world, only a pair of hauntingly beautiful green eyes. After she almost dies she finds that she's so much more than what was expected of her. Who is Chihiro Ogino? Will she find her way back to the beautiful eyes?
1. Chihiro

**Snowflakes**

A sharp intake of bitter winter air greeted Chihiro's lungs as she stepped out of her 2 story blue house.

At 18 years of age Chihiro Ogino was a lovely young lady. Out of her childhood awkwardness she now had a slender body with distinct curves, a flawless complexion, and chestnut locks that fell to halfway down her back. She was modest about her beauty, although she had no reason to be. She always hid behind baggy clothes and kept her hair up into a messy bun or ponytail, tied with a strange purple band she had always felt some sort of connection to. She owned next to no confidence, no boy had ever called her beautiful or glanced her way twice (at least that she was aware of). This bringing on questions of her sexual orientation once or twice from her parents and those were the most awkward moments of her life. She assured them that she knew where her orientation was and that she was concentrating on her school work. They found this answer acceptable and left her to her work.

People would call her strange; she was sort of a loner. She had one or two close friends. At least she led them to believe she was their friends, she pulled a façade whenever around them, no one, not even she, knew the real Chihiro Ogino. Or so she thought.

Nearly porcelain skin matched the beautiful backdrop of the hills of the new home she moved to almost eight years ago. Snowflakes seemed to dance around the young woman, almost cherishing her existence and that they were humbled to be in the presence of her. Chihiro, of course, didn't notice. Her mind was preoccupied with finishing her school work.

She was almost done with schooling. What would she do after this? Where would she go? She had almost no clue as to who she was, much less what she wanted to do with her life.

A breeze picked up causing Chihiro to shiver, but the breeze was comforting, it almost seemed to whisper Chihiro's name. Of course, Chihiro never picked up on this either. She always missed the hidden messages that seemed to emanate from a whole different world entirely.

She never once noticed how every drop of water leaned into her touch, how the air sang along with her, or how the grass always seemed to gently caress her on a warm summer's day. Never once noticing how the rain was never cold and harsh to her, and how animals always took to her naturally.

She never thought of how a whole other world seemed to be calling her with every breath she took.

She certainly didn't feel the gaze of a pair of emerald eyes that stared at her a world away as she stepped in her car and drove away.


	2. Kohaku

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – Thanks so much for your review! After this chapter then things will start getting longer I promise, it's just I couldn't do much with the last chapter, like I said, I was just introducing Chihiro's character, same in this chapter where we'll meet with Haku many years later :) And you're English is very good! I understood what you were saying just fine!**

**PiiXXiiEE – Thanks a lot! Can't wait until you update your fan fic too!**

**StarRainer101 – Thanks so much for your review! Here's the next chappie! Hope this one doesn't piss you off *glances around nervously***

**I know the last chapter was really short, and I do apologize for that! I tried to stretch this one out as much as possible, but hey, what can a girl do, I wrote as much as that chapter of introducing Chihiro allowed me to write.**

**Without further ado, here's chapter 2, Ko(haku)! HAHA that rhymed three times! :)**

**Ko(haku)**

Standing on the veranda of his personal room of the old bathhouse, Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi inhaled the crispness of the icy winter air.

It wasn't the scent of air Kohaku was concentrated on, it was the scent of fresh pine reaching a world away that humbled him. There was only one human that could be capable of attracting him so much. Only one human's scent that could cause Kohaku's inner beast to stir. Inhaling again he struggled to stifle a deep animalistic growl from within his chest.

The image of her lovely face haunted his every thought. Her flawless skin, her chocolate brown eyes that could see right into your soul, her silky chestnut locks, oh how he wanted to bury himself deep within those chestnut locks.

He chuckled to himself at his weakness. Here he was, an immortal all powerful river God, being humbled by a mere human. But oh, how he craved that human. The little human who he had saved from his river so long ago, the same human who had given back his true name, the human named Chihiro Ogino. The only reason he had aged himself to parallel her. He may even have gone as far as to say he was in love with her, but the sake of pride wouldn't allow him.

A very annoying voice snapped his concentration "Hey pond scum! I know you're so in love and stuff but do ya think you can get your head out of the clouds for a sec and get your ass over here!"

"Rin, I no longer work here you know. This is no way to treat a guest." He replied in his very calm and collected way. That was the way of rivers, they are calm and relaxed, showing no emotion. Sometimes there are ripples, such as polite laughter, and sometimes there are storms that rock the waves, creating devastation and flooding, like when a heart was broken, or they were seriously angered. But mainly, they're calm, and more than content to just flow where the land takes them.

"Doesn't mean a damn thing to me lover boy, you worked here for years. Once a worker, always a worker." Rin sharply retorted. "Well, get your ass over here and grab this bucket before I pour the leftover muck of the Radish Spirit's bath on you!"

Haku lightly chuckled at the fire within the girl. Moving in a way that only a river could, he strutted over to Rin merely for show. It was a walk of pride, if you could even call it a walk, it was more like he bended the area around him to move while he merely floated along with it.

"The bucket, fair lady" He replied, his eyes shined mischievously. Without even moving a muscle the contents disappeared into nothing.

"Show off" Rin muttered under her breath. "I just wanted you to hold it for me, not make it disappear"

"I was just trying to help a damsel in distress in every way possible" he smiled, the gleam still in his eye

"Shut up" Rin snapped, setting her broom down "Just because you got your name back, oh great Master Haku, doesn't mean you can go trotting around like a pompous bastard."

"Temper, Rin." He taunted. Rin and Kohaku weren't exactly friends, but they could tolerate one another and get along when needed. In the time she spent here, Chihiro had touched everyone in the bath house, Kamaji, Rin, and Kohaku especially. They all just naturally gravitated towards one another after that.

"Yeah, well, kinda hard to be all nice and friendly when I'm over here in slave clothes, and there you are in clothes of royalty!" she exclaimed, while gesturing to her salmon work clothes and then glowered at his fine silk yukata. The base color was teal to bring out the color oddity of his hair. No one could ever decide if it was a teal blue or greenish color. Either way, the color matched. White dragons floated along on the fabric over hills and mountains of the spirit world landscape. The fabric clung tight to the well-defined, but not bulky, muscles of his chest, while his hair hung at the perfect length to go with it.

He was, as no one would have expected, a slave to fashion.

"Well, if you would have let me free you of your contract…" Kohaku began, but Rin would hear none of it.

Silencing him, Rin all but slit his throat open "Shut up dragon boy! I got myself into this mess and I'll damn well get myself out of it! If I had needed your help I would have asked for it before! Have you ever thought of the fact that maybe I LIKE working? It gives me a purpose! Like you, I can't remember a thing of my past, but you remembered yours so you have a purpose. I don't know my past, and releasing me from contract won't make me remember it! Got that?" She finished off prodding him in the chest with the end of her broom.

Kohaku softened his gaze at Rin, he truly felt sympathetic towards her. "I'm sorry Rin, you know I didn't mean…" Rin cut him off again

"Shut up Haku I don't want your sympathy."

Kohaku merely nodded. It wasn't his place to speak in such matters. But Rin apparently hadn't forgiven him yet, he had insulted her and she wanted to extract her revenge no matter the consequences on his or her part.

"It's no wonder Sen hasn't come back yet. I wouldn't wanna come back to you either!"

There it was. The storm that rocks the river, causing the damn to burst, and flood everything in near proximity. He was a form of pure wrath in his unrelenting fury.

"Don't bring Chihiro into this! I'll go get her when she is ready! She will enjoy her time in the human world, and when I check up on her again I'll deem whether or not she's ready to come back! This is not your place to speak!" His voice shaking the rooms. The light snowfall in the background quickly turning into an unforgiving blizzard.

"Ha! You lying little bastard! You never want her back do you? You're so damn selfish you want to keep her sheltered in the human world, because you're afraid of seeing her again!"

"That's not true Rin! I'm keeping her there out of safety; it's not a safe world here!"

"She could be in more trouble there! She could be murdered, raped, beaten or all three combined at any time in the human world!" Rin cried, that seemed to strike a nerve with Haku, but he didn't react. "Besides, she must miss everyone!"

"She doesn't! She doesn't even remember anyone! I made well sure of that when I cast the spell on her to make sure she doesn't remember!" at that moment Kohaku knew he should have never spoken. He swore he would never speak of that.

Rin's face paled and a deathly gleam shone in her eyes. Her voice became deadly quiet "You did what?" she demanded in almost a whisper.

"You heard me correctly Miss Rin. It was better that way. Now I believe you have work to do" He replied calmly, but with steely eyes. The blizzard howled in the background.

"Better for who? Sen? Or your own self?" She quickly retorted, Kohaku merely shoved it off, he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that that actually hurt him. "You are truly the most selfish, arrogant, rude, pompous ass I have ever met Kohaku." She said while giving him a hard slap across the face before leaving. It didn't even faze him. Pausing at the door she said. "If you know what's good for you, don't let me see you for at least a week"

The blizzard picked up to a rapid pace, making it impossible to see through it. The entirety of the spirit world was a sheet of white.

Haku balled his fists and banged on the wall childishly, he didn't care who heard. All remnants of the cool and collected river spirit had left.

Making a desperate attempt at connecting to the human world he screamed out in frustration. He wanted to see Chihiro, no he _needed_. It was pure acute pain the need to see her, but was blocked by the white out of his own blizzard.

He went back out to the terrace suddenly a stone once more. The iciness of the blizzard was he himself in elemental form. He needed no proof of the connection. The snow was a replica of his heart, cold and would eventually turn hard.

* * *

><p>The young human couldn't see through the blizzard, but she was already nearly late for school. So, throwing caution to the wind she continued to make haste towards the school.<p>

If she had paid more attention to safety, if she hadn't sped up even more whilst unable to see, if Kohaku hadn't gotten so angry, then maybe, Chihiro wouldn't have hit the tree head on.

She could feel the darkness creeping up on her through the pain, and she welcomed it with open arms. The last thing she saw before being overtaken was a single snowflake that floated through the cracked window, landing on the back of her palm before melting.

**So this chapter is MUCH longer! I hope you guys were satisfied with the length! It took me 2 and a half hours to write so please REVIEW it means SO MUCH to me!**

**Sorry to cut off where I did! I just had to cut off there! So please no flames for that *goes and hides in a corner***

**And if you haven't guessed, there will be sort of a recurring theme of snowflakes, hence the title**

**Oh and yes, I'm using Lin's Japanese name of Rin! I like it better so that's what I'm using :)**

**Until next time my friends! Read and REVIEW!**


	3. Colors

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

**Wow so this is the longest chapter yet! And it's all for you guys!**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – thank you so much! You're so sweet :) thank you for your review!**

**PiiXXiiEE – haha glad you liked the bickering of Rin and Haku last chapter! I'll admit I had fun writing it! Thanks for the review!**

Colors**.**

That's all Chihiro could distinguish. No, thoughts, no movement, she didn't know herself, she didn't know anything, all she knew was colors.

Pain was red, sorrow was blue, and everything else was black. The pain was coming from her own body, she was red.

Blue. She could feel blue all around her. Blue touched her, but she didn't register it, she was red.

There was black seeping through everything else, she didn't know what black was, she didn't know anything.

Voices called to her, she didn't register them. Things tugged at her, she paid no notice.

Suddenly she was no longer one, she was two. She didn't know which one was her though. One of her was white, the other was red. That was her, she was red.

She didn't know who was white, she didn't know anything.

The white was tugging at the red, the white wanted to be the red. The red wanted to be taken over by white, but this wasn't the right place, the white couldn't be here. White belonged somewhere else

Red didn't know anything but white, white knew more than red, white was better than red. Wasn't it?

They wanted to join, they needed to, but they couldn't.

Then everything was emerald green.

The green was gone, and began the struggle of white and red again, red was slipping away.

Emerald green surrounded everything and red returned.

The cycle continues. White. Red. Flashing green. White. Red. Green.

Then green overtook everything.

* * *

><p><em>Beep Beep Beep. <em>

Chihiro's pulse was slow, deadly slow. The doctors wouldn't give up on her though. They had come close to proclaiming her brain dead a few times, but something had happened to bring her back every time.

She wasn't expected to live, but her parents wouldn't let the doctors stop for a minute on her.

Yuuko and Akio Ogino were grief stricken to learn the news that on their only daughter's way to school she had a head on collision with an 80 year old maple. The force of the impact had caused the windshield to shatter, causing glass to impale itself into the side of her neck. Slicing open her aorta, if the doctors could get the bleeding under control then Chihiro might have a chance. There were other complications such as getting the oxygen needed to her brain. She couldn't breathe on her own, the doctors weren't sure as to why. Putting her on life support would sustain her, but she was still in critical condition.

She had a broken leg and cracked spine. She might not be able to walk again after this. But then again, the doctors weren't sure she would pull through. It would take a miracle to see her open her eyes again.

"Mr and Mrs Ogino?" The doctor in green scrubs called as he entered the waiting room

The two immediately stood up. Akio was the first to speak "How is she? How is my daughter?"

(A/N TAKE NOTHING I SAY IN THIS PARAGRAPH SERIOUSLY! I KNOW NEXT TO NOTHING ABOUT MEDICAL STUFF AND INJURIES. THE MOST I KNOW IS FROM WHAT I SEE ON TV! TAKE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING I SAY SERIOUSLY HERE)

"She is in very critical condition, I'm sorry to say. We can fix her spine, and her leg will heal in time. But the glass that cut the aorta is severe. She suffered major blood loss, and we just have to let it bleed out before trying to heal it. We can give her as much blood as she needs. But there's also the issue of getting oxygen to her brain. We had to come close to declaring her brain dead a few times."

At these words Yuuko crumbled into tears against her husband's chest. Akio stood stone faced and strong for his wife, he was the man of the family and he damn well was going to stay strong well through everything for Yuuko, even though he himself wanted to break down right then and there.

"What can you do doctor?" he asked steely

"We're doing everything we can, we have her on life support and are trying to control the blood loss. Also you should know there's a possibility she won't walk again due to the severity of the break in her spine."

After a moments silence Akio responded saying "Thank you doctor, when can we see her?"

"You may see her when we get the bleeding under control. That may take a few hours to a few days, but we can't risk you being near her right now." The doctor looked at them with sympathetic eyes.

"What the hell do you mean it's not safe to see her right now? She's my daughter!"

"Sir, please calm down, we're doing everything we know how."

Akio became flushed from head to toe in rage. "Honey," Yuuko tried to soothe through a tear streaked face, her voice heavy with emotion, "they're doing everything they can."

"You may stay here overnight if you wish" The doctor added helpfully.

"Yes, thank you." Said Yuuko shakily.

The doctor nodded and walked away.

"Oh, Akio. What are we going to do? We didn't even tell her we loved her this morning before she left!" she sobbed into her husband's chest.

"Shh, she knows we love her. We'll talk to her again. She knows, she knows." He replied stroking her hair soothingly. In his attempt at comforting her, he also said it mainly to help himself, his daughter knew they loved her…right? They were good parents to her…right?

* * *

><p>Green eyes fixated themselves on the falling snow outside. Time seemed to stand still.<p>

Nothing registered, nothing was important to him. The only thing that mattered to him was the broken brown haired girl a world away.

The room shattered with a bang, as a fiery young woman in salmon colored clothes barged through the door. "Haku, you dumb ass help her!"

"I am doing everything in my power, Rin. How do you know of this anyway? I should be the only one who knows." He replied coolly.

"You're not the only one with tricks up their sleeve fish brain! Anyway, I don't believe you. If you were then Sen would be healed and walking, she wouldn't be almost de…she wouldn't be…" Rin faltered over the word, tears starting to come to her eyes and her voice becoming shaky. The fiery wall seemed to break down in that instant, letting emotion roll through the woman. She couldn't finish the sentence without losing all sort of dignity and crumbling. "Listen point is, you better do more or I'll…I'll…" at that point she burst out in tears.

Kohaku wanted to help her, but he couldn't be disturbed any further. What was happening to Chihiro was far beyond physical injury. Injury, she could pull through, maybe. But if what was happening now continued, there wouldn't be any Chihiro left to recover from.

"Haku, what's going on with her? There's something more isn't there?" Rin spoke softly. She couldn't find the strength to pull a snappy remark,

Kohaku didn't reply for a long time, he was concentrated on his task.

"Rin, I took away her memory of this place for a reason." He said, never moving his glance from the snow.

"What would that be dumb ass?" She retorted, some of the spitfire attitude coming back.

"Everyone who works here signs a contract with Yubaba, who then steals your name to control you. Yubaba took Chihiro's name, while in return giving her the name of Sen. Names have power, your name is everything about you: the way you are, the way you talk, your bravery, personality, everything. When Chihiro was changed into Sen, Chihiro literally became Sen. Chihiro was a weak little girl who complained a lot and clung to her parents. She was terrified of everything, including every spirit she saw." Haku cracked a weak smile at this. "Sen was strong; she could handle almost anything thrown her way, every evil spirit, such as no face. She could handle any challenge, like the polluted river spirit that she freed. But she didn't become Sen so easily. Do you remember how she was sick and weak that first night?"

Rin nodded, that night seemed so far ago.

"That was her body rejecting Sen, I knew this was happening, although I didn't want to let go of the girl who had fallen into my river, I had too. The rice cakes I gave her had a spell on them to coax her body into becoming Sen. I was sad to see my Chihiro change. Although, they weren't so different, Sen was almost like a perfected Chihiro. I expected nothing of the old Chihiro, but I soon realized that it was Chihiro too, not a totally different person, it was like they morphed into one."

"This is so much to take in Haku; you do know how crazy this is sounding right?"

Kohaku nodded his head

"Why did Sen disappear? I mean you're the same person as you were when you were just Haku, minus the rudeness, on most occasions." Rin said

"I had to take Sen away; Sen did not belong in the human world. Sen couldn't be human. Yubaba made it so Sen could only survive in the spirit world to keep her here. And with Sen leaving Chihiro, all her memories of this world left." That was something Kohaku never planned on telling anyone.

Suddenly everything fell into place. Haku only took away her memory because he had to, not because he wanted to. She suddenly felt very bad for slapping him. "I guess that makes sense. But why was Sen so strong and Chihiro so weak? Like I said, you're almost the same person."

"As I said, names have power. As you know Sen means one thousand. Yubaba knew that, and that's why she used it. She had been saving it for the right person to use it on. The name Sen was used for an allusion to the one thousand handed goddess of Guan Yin of the Buddhist religion. Guan Yin was a strong goddess with pure bravery, a hard worker, and not afraid of anything. That's why Chihiro was so valuable to Yubaba, because she was so strong."

"Why are you telling me all this Haku? How will this help Sen…Chihiro…whoever she is?"

"Because Chihiro is at war with herself, Sen never truly left Chihiro. I put Sen to sleep; my powers wouldn't allow me to take her away completely. It wouldn't have been good for Chihiro either, because Sen had become a part of her. Sen is trying to join with Chihiro once more. Because Chihiro is in such a critical condition right now, it should be easy for Sen to take over, but I keep intervening so it won't happen."

"Why not just let Sen take over? It may be what she needs to recover!" Rin retorted.

"Because I don't know what will happen if Sen takes over! I don't know how the body will react. Sen was made for the spirit world only; I don't know the result of her being in the human world."

It was all too much for Rin to comprehend, her brain needed a break. "Keep her safe lover boy." She softly commanded leaving.

Kohaku continued to glance out on the horizon trying to cease fire of Chihiro's war. He would try to hold off as long as needed, but he knew he couldn't keep on forever. Trying to intervene on something of this level an entire world away was absolutely draining. He could feel himself weakening by the second.

He needed to close his eyes, he promised himself it would just be for a second, he knew he couldn't fall asleep, if he did all his magical connections to Chihiro would break and Sen would take over.

Images of Chihiro flew into his eyes. It wasn't of the limp broken girl in the hospital, but of the beautiful young woman with the endless chocolate eyes and chestnut hair. Kohaku allowed himself to be carried away with the visions.

She was riding on his back in dragon forms as his did loop the loops in the air; she knew she was in no danger. As long as she was with him she was safe.

They were sharing a bath during the day when everyone was asleep, dressed decently of course. He wouldn't allow those indecent thoughts to cross his mind as much as he wanted them to.

They were chatting with Zeniba and No Face over tea in Swamp Bottom.

Then there was a whole new image, him in a snowy white yukata, and her in a matching Kimono with snow patterns on it. A crystal snowflake was pinned in her hair to keep it out of her face while freshwater pearls dance their way through curls. He didn't understand this image at first, but then grew to realize it was he and Chihiro becoming married. He normally didn't allow such thoughts to cross his mind, but he realized he needed this right now. These thoughts were comforting to his strained brain. Right before he leaned in to kiss her, he fell asleep with a slight smile on his face.

* * *

><p>Colors<p>

Blue had been drowned out. She no longer registered blue. Blue was unimportant. All that was important was red and white.

Red was pain. Red was her. Wasn't it?

She didn't know white. She didn't know anything.

There was green, green was good. It was comforting.

White grew stronger, red grew weaker. Red wasn't that bad was it?

White was almost overpowering, red was almost happy to give in.

Green was still there. Then green was gone completely.

Then white took over, leaving red. But so little it became a part of white.

Red was just asleep.

White was living.

* * *

><p><strong>WOW! So half this stuff in this chapter I had never even thought of! It just came to me as writing but I'm really really really happy with the way it turned out!<strong>

**I am the author of this, but I can't say I wrote it, the story has mainly been writing itself, I've merely been speaking for it. For all you authors out there you know what I mean :)**

**I never intended for so much to happen in this chapter, I was going to stop it long before, but I figured in the Christmas spirit I would combine two chapters, but they went together very well!**

**Take nothing of the medical things I said seriously! I tried to do research on as much as I could but it got too confusing, I'm a literature/foreign language person! Not science! Haha!**

**I hope you all could understand the colors, it was very hard for me to write but I just liked the idea too much to pass up.**

**Here's a code if you didn't understand it.**

**Green = Haku intervening and keeping Chihiro afloat**

**White = Sen**

**Red = Chihiro**

**Blue = the doctors, and her parents sympathy towards her.**

**I hope you all liked the insight into the whole Sen Vs. Chihiro thing! I liked explaining it, and the allusion to the Buddhist goddess. I particularly enjoyed that part :)**

**As I said I understand if this chapter was confusing, so if you have any questions whatsoever please don't hesitate to pm me and ask!**

**So how do you think Chihiro's body will react to Sen being in the human world? I'm still not sure myself!**

**REVIEW PLEASE! IT WOULD MEAN SO MUCH!**


	4. Awake

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Your reviews mean so much to me!**

**This chapter is a little on the short side, but I only had about a two hour stretch to get it done.**

**PiiXXiiEE – haha thanks! Hope it wasn't too confusing, it was really interesting to try to write.**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – glad you liked the idea of the colors! I honestly don't know where I got the idea for it, it just sort of came to me so I decided to try it out. Thanks for the ideas of flashbacks! I'll be getting to her past and her remembering within the next few chapters! Just out of curiosity, you said your English wasn't too good, if you don't mind me asking but what's your first language? I love foreign language! I speak English as my first language, and I speak a lot of Spanish too, not fluently but I can hold up a conversation.**

* * *

><p>The sleeping figure of Yuuko Ogino was leaning into her husband for support. The hospital chairs, though cushioned, didn't offer much comfort. Akio appeared to be asleep, but he was merely lightly dozing, he couldn't let go the fact that he may never see their daughter alive again. Surely they were good parents to her right? They had given her everything she had ever needed. They had clothed her, fed her, and spoiled her rotten. She never wanted for anything, if she merely hinted she wanted it, it was in her arms by the next day. But then again, she never seemed to fully accept these belongings. Their daughter was a strange being indeed.<p>

Akio smiled lightly in his sleep.

She had always been quiet; of course they just thought she was merely shy. She was polite to everyone she met and never spoke unless spoken to first. They had assumed it was just her growing up into a young woman and taking a place in society. She had lost her attitude since the move. Was she homesick? Should they quit their jobs and take her home? Would they get the chance to?

He didn't want to think these thoughts just yet; his brain had been pushed to its very limit from the previous day.

Suddenly a bright light filled the room. Two pair of sleepy eyes jerked awake at this sudden change. A nurse in green scrubs entered the room. She spoke kindly "Mr. and Mrs. Ogino?" they nodded their heads. "The bleeding has subsided, and somehow miraculously the aorta has repaired itself! I've never seen something like this before, I'm almost positive it has never happened. When we went to replace the gauze and change the blood packet, we noticed there was next to no blood on the gauze. We don't know how it happened. She must have some sort of higher power looking over her." The nurse finished off with a smile.

The Ogino's elated to hear such wonderful news sprang from the chair and Yuuko latched onto her husband, new tears spilling from her eyes.

"Does this mean she'll be all right?" Akio asked softly

"She should be okay. There is still the issue of reconstructing her spine, and she is still on life support because she can't breathe on her own. If we can coax her into reality again, she will survive. But I have to tell you, she may be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life." She finished with a sad look in her eyes.

"Thank you." Said Akio. "When can we see her?"

"You may follow me now and see her if you would like."

"YES!" screamed Yuuko.

The nurse stifled a small laugh. "Follow me please" pulling herself together Yuuko grasped her husband's hand and followed the nurse down the long corridor. A few turns later they were in front of a door that could only have Chihiro on the other side. "I'll have to ask you to wash your hands before you enter, please." She said gesturing to a sink a few feet away. Irritated Yuuko washed her hands like her life depended on it. Once done they entered the room.

Chihiro, pale as the swirling snow outside, lay gently under a thin sheet. Tubes and wires were placed in a hectic maze all around her small body. One tube was taped to her mouth offering her life giving air. Blood and an IV hang from a steel rod. Those didn't bother Yuuko, she knew they were sustaining her precious girl, but the other tubes scared her. She didn't know what they were for.

"Oh." She choked, "Chi-Chihiro." She rushed forwards looking for a place to touch her. Every surface of her body seemed to be covered in some sort of wire. She didn't care, she needed to touch her daughter, make sure she was still real. Akio went over and placed his hands comfortingly on Yuuko's shoulders. Giving up with a sigh Yuuko began to stroke her baby girl's hair. She had beautiful hair. Long chestnut waves that fell to the center of her back. Yuuko loved her hair.

"How much longer should it be?" she gently asked.

"That all depends on her." The nurse replied.

Accepting this Yuuko returned to stroking her daughters hair, all of the sudden she felt a jolt go through her as she felt through a chunk of her daughter's hair. Retracting her hand at first in surprise, and then placing it back as she felt the jolt once more. This time not pulling back she pulled the lock of hair off the pillow to further examine. She gasped in surprise at what she saw.

"What is it honey?" Akio asked concerned.

Staring at the lock in her hand Yuuko asked shakily "Since when…does Chihiro have…_white _hair?"

* * *

><p>"HAKU! WAKE UP!" shrieked an annoying voice behind him.<p>

"Go away." He mumbled. He wanted to sleep. He was having a lovely dream of his precious one. Dreams were one of the only ways he could get to see her without exerting a huge amount of power.

"I SAID. WAKE! UP!" with the last two words came hard slaps to both sides of his face. He snapped awake to see the angry face of Rin glowering above him. "Well? What's going on with Sen?"

Gasping he lurched himself from his chair, how could he have fallen asleep? He had to protect Chihiro! He searched through the human world in his mind to try to find her, of course he didn't exactly see the humans, he could just sense them. No Chihiro.

"Haku what's going on?"

"Hush Rin!" He commanded. He needed all his concentration now. He searched farther and farther, deeper into the black abyss of human souls. It wasn't there. "She's…not there."

"What the hell do you mean she's not there?" Rin shouted.

"I mean she's not there Rin!" He cried slamming his fists against the wall. Tears threatening to pour over his eyes. "Chihiro's gone! She's not in this world, she's not in the human world! She's gone!" at this moment tears spilled over his eyes. Rin was shocked, she had never seen Haku so emotional. Ever. No one had ever seen him outside of his calm collected state and his temper. No one except Chihiro.

"You don't mean she's…"

"Dead?" Haku finished. "Yes. She has to be. I was stupid and fell asleep, I let Sen take over Chihiro and it was rejected by the human world. There isn't a Chihiro. There isn't a Sen. She's gone. Gone. And it's all my fault." At this point Haku crumbled to the ground in a shaking ball of a man.

Rin clasped her hand over her mouth and started trembling. She wouldn't let him see her cry. At that moment she tore out of the room, leaving the broken man to himself.

At that moment Kohaku vowed he would never love again.

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><p>It was an uncomfortable position, she could feel tubes and wires around her, she could smell clean air, she could hear a slow beeping noise and people talking outside.<p>

_Where am I? _

Then she felt pain, so much pain, her back hurt as did her leg. She was beginning to panic, as she did the constant beeping noise began to increase and she heard things rushing over to her.

"What's going on doctor? What's happening?" said a concerned voice.

"I think, our Chihiro is coming around. She's breathing on her own!" came an unfamiliar voice and she felt something leave her mouth.

"Chihiro, Chihiro honey can you open your eyes? Chihiro sweety look at me." Came a soft voice, she liked that voice. It was familiar. She wanted to do as the voice said, she tried to, but she was _so _tired. The most she could find herself doing was just fluttering her eyelids.

"She needs time; we still have her under the influence of morphine. I have never seen something like this before. This is truly a miracle Mr. and Mrs. Ogino. Say thanks to the Gods you believe in." with that she heard footsteps leave.

"Oh Chihiro honey, I can't believe this." Whispered a voice. She felt something go through her hair, it felt nice. "Why is your hair white?" she heard the voice choke back a sob. She had white hair?

"She may have done it herself; she is old enough to do things with her own hair if she pleases. It's not all white though, just a few streaks here and there." Said a masculine voice trying to comfort,

She heard a sigh "I know, it's just her hair was so beautiful the way it was. I won't deny the fact that I really do like it, it's just not Chihiro. She's not the same person is she Akio? She's growing up. She's growing away from us."

"We knew this would happen one day Yuuko. Don't be upset. I don't want to let go of my little girl either, but we must, she is her own person now."

Her own person? Who was she? They had mentioned the name Chihiro, but that didn't seem right, it fit, but it was wrong. She was someone else.

There was a dull lull in the back of her mind. It was quiet, very quiet, but there. It seemed as if it was important, that it needed to be recognized. If she could just tap into it things would be better. She struggled internally to get it, but something was holding her back. Frustrated she did the only thing her exhausted body would allow, let out a sight.

"Did you hear that Akio?" asked an anxious voice.

"Yes, it looks like our little girl is going to be all right." Her parents. That's who these people were. She wanted to see them, she knew them, but her tired eyes wouldn't allow her to. Frustrated she let the blackness of sleep pull her under.

She dreamed of things unknown. She was walking on a white surface with white smoke rising up from it. She realized this must be some sort of cloud, snowflakes were swirling around her, sticking to her silvery kimono and white obi. They landed in her hair and attached to her eyelashes. They seemed to relish her presence.

She didn't feel the cold though, the snow felt comfortable and right to her. She smiled at the familiarity of it all. Nothing else mattered in that moment except for the element. She felt happy and content with the snow.

She was walking, the snow following her everywhere she went. She didn't know why or where she was walking, she was just walking. Out of nowhere a mirror appeared. It was tall and was seemingly held up by nothing. The frame was white and frost was seeping at its edges. The girl that stared back was a stranger.

Gray eyes stared at her through the glass. The stranger had long chestnut waves with white streaks through it, normally this would have been an odd combination. But it looked beautiful on this girl. She wore a simple silver kimono and white obi. She was beautiful in a plain but haunting way. She wanted to know this person. This person felt right.

She raised a hand to touch the girl. Her actions were mirrored. In confusion she reached further and touched the glass. The strange beauty did the same. With a gasp she realized they were one in the same.

Upon this realization came a whisking sensation and she was pulled back to a different world. In confusion she reached out for the snow. She wanted the snow. But it had abandoned her.

Realizing she was somewhere different entirely, she opened her eyes.

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><p><strong>Awww poor haku :(<strong>

**I actually cried writing this chapter, it was just so emotional for me as I get seriously into what I'm writing! Sorry there wasn't an update yesterday, but it was Christmas and I needed to be with my family.**

**I'll be updating daily until January 4****th**** 2012. Excluding new years eve and new years day. I've got some parties to go to on those days, I'll see what I can do on those days but there are no guarantees. Until next time REVIEW please :)**


	5. Memories

**Kat Nikolaevsky – Thanks for your review! Yeah I know :( poor Haku! I actually cried while writing his part**

**PiiXXiiEE – sorry it brought back some unpleasant memories. I've only been in a hospital for myself twice, once for my birth lol, which I obviously don't remember. The other was for when I broke my arm when I was 9 and that didn't have anything sedative or involve wires. I did have my wisdom teeth taken out which is where I knew about heart monitors and sedatives, but as far as that goes that's my experiences with hospitals.**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – oohhh! Czech/slovic! I have a friend that's a foreign exchange student from Czech Republic and she's taught me a few things from the language. It's definitely not an easy language to learn! The only things I've really retained from what she's taught me is ahoj means hello and *geeky* means thank you (not sure if that's spelled right, but that's just how it sounds lol) and I know a few other words here and there, but nothing really good. Haha. Wow Russian! I've tried to learn a little Russian, but the words just confuse me, not to mention the characters are different and my brain doesn't do well learning whole new alphabets, I only know the latin and greek alphabet. Thanks for reviewing:)**

**StarRainer101 – haha better late than never I always say :) it was sad I'll admit. I cried while writing that part, it wasn't an easy thing to do. Thanks for reviewing :) Hmm, as to the whole Chihiro/Sen thing I'm really not sure how to answer that. I don't wanna give too much away because it'll be a running theme in this story. Hmm I'll try to clear up as much as I can without giving too much away. Well, sen did take over Chihiro. But Chihiro is still there somewhat, in spirit and memories, do you remember how in the movie nothing changed about Chihiro except personality, that was her spirit changing into Sen. She was still Chihiro but with Sen's personality. She was still kind and caring like Chihiro, sen was just a lot braver. There has to be a Chihiro for there to be a Sen. Chihiro is the base of Sen's whole existence, they sort of co-depend on one another. Chihiro can't be without Sen, and Sen can't be without Chihiro. In sense Sen was sort of always inside Chihiro waiting to be awoken. I'll explain more in further chapters, I know the whole thing's confusing. It confuses even me lol. I hope this chapter clears something up!**

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><p>Opening her eyes gently to the bright light she cringed. Light had been unfamiliar for so long. She heard footsteps rush over to her and concerned voices talking to her. She had to fight through the haze in her brain to be able to understand them, a fog had set so heavily in her head that everything was a blur.<p>

"Chihiro sweety, can you look at me?" asked a concerned voice. She moved her eyes over to the source of the sound, and her eyes rested upon a pretty woman. She looked familiar and warm. Short brown hair encircled a soft heart shaped face marked with laugh lines. She liked this lady. A word came to her head for this woman. _Mom. _That's who this was, her mom.

"Mommy." Chihiro replied with a soft smile.

Tears appeared at the edge of her mom's eyes, not just for the fact that her daughter was awake, but she hadn't called her mommy in 8 years. "How are you feeling honey?" she asked stroking her daughter's soft waves.

"It…it _hurts." _She complained. A voice appeared in her head at that moment '_stop complaining' _it commanded. '_we are stronger than that.'_ Chihiro winced at this, and was pulled back in her own mind letting the voice get the better of her. She was someone new then without realizing it. "I'm fine though. I'm strong, I'll get through this." She accompanied with a smile. Her mother's worried look disappeared in an instant. "What happened?" she asked confused at her surroundings. She truly had no idea what was going on.

"You were in a car wreck while you were driving to school. The blizzard caused you to swerve and crash into a tree. Don't worry, it's all going to be okay." Her mother's voice came soothingly. She wasn't concerned about the wreck, it was the fact that she had told her she was _driving_ to school.

"Driving?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes sweety, just like every other day you drove yourself to school." Her mother replied with concern written all over her face.

"I can't drive." She stated blankly. What was her mother talking about?

"Chihiro," she began cautiously, "what's the last thing you remember?"

"We're moving into a new house, and daddy took a wrong turn in the woods. That's it. That's the last thing I remember." She replied truthfully.

Yuuko looked at her daughter with shocked eyes "Excuse me for a moment sweety, mommy's just going to get the doctor. I'll be back in a moment."

_What was going on?_ She wondered.

A strange man in green scrubs walked into the pristine white room. The colors seemed out of place. "Hello Chihiro." He smiled kindly "I want you to follow this flashlight with your eyes please." He politely commanded. Moving left, right, up, and down, she followed with her eyes. The doctor deeming her acceptable checked her blood pressure and pulse. Turning to her parents he formally spoke "It appears that she has either hit her head upon collision, or the lack of oxygen has caused a form of amnesia."

Yuuko and Akio both gasped upon this devastating news. It seemed they would never get a break; the kami must surely be cursing them for some unknown reason. "How long until she regains her memory?" said Akio.

"That all depends on her; while she's recovering I would suggest showing her home videos if you have any. Tell her stories of her past. Bring in report cards, birthday cards, anything that might trigger any kind of memories. But it does appear Chihiro is healing at a fast rate. Within the next week or so we may be able to start on her spine reconstruction surgery." He smiled weakly and left the room.

Yuuko then was a no nonsense being. "Akio." She commanded with a fire that only a mother and a wife could muster. "Go home. Now. Get all the home videos, every last one of them!"

"Y-yes dear." He replied, in this state he wouldn't dare refuse his wife.

At that moment a nurse walked in the room delivering food for Chihiro. "Eat only what you can dear. You haven't had any whole food in your stomach for almost a week." She said setting down a tray with ramen, bits of pork and celery.

Immediately she came up with "I don't eat meat. I can't eat this I'm sorry." Chihiro replied apologetically. She had no idea how she knew this. She never was before; something just told her to not eat it.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear! I'll take this back and bring one without meat, and I'll definitely remember no meat in the future." She said taking the tray.

"Thank you." Chihiro replied gratefully.

"Don't worry dear, everything will be all right. Out of everything how you remembered being vegetarian is beyond me. That didn't happen until the move was complete, which is after you said what you remembered,." Her mother's soothing voice rang clear with a hint of being dumbfound.

"Mommy, tell me. What have I missed? What's going on?" Her daughter asked with a fire in her chocolate eyes. Yuuko sighed and knew this was going to be a long story.

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><p>Chocolate eyes stared through the screen at the group huddled around the hospital bed. Akio did as his wife commanded and brought in all 178 of the miscellaneous home videos they had laying around.<p>

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHIHIRO!" everyone had shouted. A young girl who had just begun developing maturely sat at a table with a birthday cake in front of her. The numbers 13 stood at the top with flames emitting from the wicks. After the round of happy birthday from her few friends and family members, she smiled and with a nostalgic look in her eyes she blew out the candles. She opened her eyes looking sad, as if she had wished for something she knew she would never get, or as if she wasn't sure what she had wished for. Going through the traditions of presents she had received a few items of jewelry, a board game, and a few random items of clothing. Then the screen went black signaling the end of the tape.

"Anything at all Chihiro?" asked Akio hopefully. Chihiro merely shook her head. She felt as if she were staring at an alien through the screen, this person was not her. She didn't know how or why she knew this, she just knew.

Yuuko sighed, "Well, give it time it will come. After all that was only the first tape! Come on! There's so many more to watch!" she proclaimed gesturing to the enormous stack of tapes and video recording of the past. "Akio, what about the time we first took her ice skating? That has to bring back some memories." She and Akio both giggled knowingly. Chihiro had no idea what was going on as usual, but she knew in time she'd find out.

After searching for a few minutes the man reemerged from the mountain of film holding a single silver disk. "When you were 11, we took you ice skating for the first time in your life. You had seen Sasha Cohen on TV at the Olympics in Torino, Italy. You thought she looked so beautiful you just had to become an ice skater. So we drove you and your friend Tsukiko to the next town over for an afternoon at the rink, and well, here's what happened."

The image of an unfamiliar girl with the traditional dark Japanese skin, glasses, and short black hair appeared in front of the camera. She assumed it was Tsukiko. "And this is what happens when Chi-hi-chan goes ice skating for the first time!" announced a high pitched voice. The camera turned away from the girls face and then focused on Chihiro. She struggled not to laugh. Chihiro was hugging the wall as if her life depended on it. An amusing amount of fear placated in the girls eyes. "Chi get off the wall!" shouted the girl who had begun to skate backwards effortlessly in attempt to get the whole picture. It was acquainted with a vigorous head shake of no.

"No! I am not a Yuki-Onna **(A/N ice spirit)**!" she shrieked. It was accompanied with vigorous laughter from Tsukiko.

"Come on Chi!" she shouted, handing the camera over to an amused looking Yuuko who was safely standing off the ice on matting. Tsukiko then skated over to the frightened little girl grabbed her hands and pulled her away from the wall, Chihiro more walked on the skates rather than glided on the ice. Once a good distance away from the ice Tsukiko pulled away from Chihiro. "Okay Chi-hi-chan. Skate to me!" she commanded. Chihiro moved maybe two feet before all you saw was two legs in the air where her head should be. Yuuko ran over to the wall concerned and amused; sprawled on the ice was her little girl flushed red from embarrassment. Tsukiko was about to die from laughing.

"I AM NEVER ICE SKATING AGAIN!" Chihiro screamed before the screen went black again. Yuuko and Akio were howling with laughter. Chihiro merely flushed from embarrassment. That clumsy brat had been her? She was ashamed at herself for that; there was no reason for such an outburst.

"Seriously, Chihiro? Nothing from that?" said Akio wiping a tear from laughing too hard from his eye. Chihiro shook her head no, and she quite frankly did _not _want to remember that.

"What about her 18 th birthday? That was only 4 months ago, maybe something more recent will trigger her memories." Suggested Yuuko. Again Akio repeated the process of digging through the pile to find the perfect disk.

"Ah-hah!" he cried when he at last found it. Shoving it into the player they both waited. Chihiro was blindfolded and being led out of her house by her father. She had her hair tied back in a purple hair band. That seemed to tug at a memory. She wasn't sure of what though. She wore loose jeans, a purple hoody, and tennis shoes.

"Dad, where are we going?" she asked calmly. That's how she had been as of late, calm and collected.

"We're going right here." Said Akio. Pausing he took off her blindfold. Chihiro gasped at what was in front of her; A small Japanese smart car.

"It's great guys. Thanks so much." She responded coolly.

Chihiro wasn't concentrating on the video anymore of her former self examining her new birthday present. She was staring at the hills that rose behind the car. She knew those hills. She felt a tug in the back of her mind, yes something was coming! She knew it, she…

"Excuse, me." Said a doctor walking in the room. Chihiro flushed with frustration, she could have screamed at the doctor. But no, she was going to be better than that and not let her anger get the better of her; she was _so_ close to remembering! She almost knew, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. There was no recognition whatsoever anymore. "I have good news! Ms. Ogino here has been healing at a godly rate, we don't understand how she's done it, but with her fast recovery comes good rewards. If she keeps it up we'll be able to do her spine reconstructing surgery tomorrow! The faster we can get to it, the higher chance she has of being able to walk again."

"Oh that's fantastic news!" said Yuuko excitedly. Akio who doesn't show as much emotion as his wife gave a wide grin. That was his way of showing how much he approved.

Chihiro heard the good news, and was happy of it, but she continued to look back at the screen and the hills. She felt a tug at her soul.

* * *

><p>A green and white dragon twisted and flied over a moonlit ocean. The previous day's snow had melted and formed a small sea. Snow still continued to fall but melted as it hit the water. A look of agony filled the dragon's eye.<p>

Kohaku needed to be in his dragon form then, his thoughts were much less complex in his animalistic form. _Eat Kohaku, rest Kohaku, don't think about the death of your true love Kohaku. _He needed this form to sort his emotions. His human emotions would have crushed him at that moment.

He didn't know where he was flying; he just knew he _was_. No matter how hard his dragon heart tried not to think of her, he couldn't help it. So he let his instinct take over completely; flying where his body told him to. He felt a heat in his heart, and a mental compass began to take life. He followed it seeing no reason why not to. It only felt right to follow it.

Only realizing where he was going once he was there, he wanted to turn around and leave immediately. But it was too late. His presence had been acknowledged, and by none other than the one who had brought him there. It had made sense now.

Changing back into human form he gently smiled at the old woman. "Hello, Zeniba". He could fell his heart breaking even more. The last time he had been here was to pick up Chihiro. Not feeling the need to visit since.

"Hello, Haku." She said returning the smile. Koanashi creeped up behind her and gave a gentle _uh uh_; which haku had assumed was hello.

"Why am I here Zeniba?" he asked gently. Zeniba saw through the charade though. She knew he was annoyed at her for interrupting his night fly.

"Can't an old woman request a dragon's presence without her motives being questioned?" she giggled wryly. "Come in Haku, I won't take no for an answer" the old witch said while practically shoving him through the door with her magic. At the table were a bowl of ramen and a cup of tea waiting for him. He knew he had no choice but to graciously accept the witch's invitation.

After eating his fill in silence under the witch's watchful motherly eye he said "Thank you, Zeniba." bowing to her for his gratitude.

"Cut the formalities Haku." She said kindly "I am Granny to you." She said with a sly smirk. He smiled kindly back. The only sound emanating from the room was the click from Koanashi's knitting needles. The comfortable silence began to grow awkward. "What's wrong Haku? I sensed you in distress; that is why I called you here. It does no good to the world if there's an upset dragon flying around."

Kohaku appreciated the woman's concern. "Thank you for your concern, Granny, but it is something I'd rather not talk about at the moment."

Her actions were pure, but they did not make the dragon boy feel any better.

"I'm assuming it has something to do with Chihiro. Word has it you are quite smitten with her." Zeniba replied with a gleam in her eye.

Tears threatened the eyes of the dragon. He closed his eyes; not wanting her to see him like this. "She's dead." He replied so fast it sounded like one whole word. "She was dying…sen was trying to take over while Chihiro was sleeping. I didn't know how the body would react, I just had to hold her off long enough for Chihiro to wake up and heal. Just long enough, but…I fell asleep. Sen took over, the human world rejected sen and as a result they both died." He whispered; tears spilling out from his closed eyes.

Zeniba doubled over in howling laughter.

That was the last thing Kohaku had expected to happen. His eyes filled with rage. _She's laughing at the death at the best thing that's ever happened to either of the worlds. _He wanted to rip the old witch limb from limb.

"Oh settle down you old lizard." She teased wiping a tear from her eye. She took another glance at an infuriated Kohaku and continued her episode.

"Please explain to me how the death of a beautiful young woman is funny!" he commanded.

"Calm down and follow me." She said still shaking with glee. She walked across the room and pulled out an antique box. It was white with gold intricate floral patterns etched around the edges. It looked older than Zeniba herself.

Opening the intricate lid she pulled out something round. The witch burst out laughing again.

_She must have gone absolutely insane. Maybe Chihiro's death has hit her so hard the only way to cope is through insanity. _

"I assure you I am not insane Haku." She said slyly. "Here, take it." She said shoving the object into his hand.

He observed the object and came up with nothing important about it. "It's a hairband." He decided. His anger erased by confusion.

"My you're observant." She noted sarcastically. "Yes it's a hairband." Kohaku waited for her to continue. "The last time the girl was here, Boh, the Yu-bird, and No-face made her a beautiful purple hairband to protect her. I put many spells on that hairband, including making a clone of it. Chihiro has always been connected here while she wears it. This is the duplicate you're holding. The colors symbolize her state of being. Purple being the normal, it has always been purple."

He glanced at the hairband. It had turned a silvery white and you could see flecks of blue dotted around it. "Then white and blue must mean death." He said quietly.

"No, Haku. Black means death."

Crying out in frustration he held up the hairband to further investigate. "Then what does _this _mean?"

"_This_ means she is FAR from death Haku."

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><p><strong>I never intended for so much to happen in this chapter:) I was going to save haku and zeniba's little chat until next chapter but I had a GREAT day so I just had to write more for you guys! I finally landed a jump in skating that I've been trying to land for 3 months, and that put me in such a great mood I felt like sharing my joy with the world!<strong>

**I have to admit, I put some of myself into this chapter. I simply couldn't help it! I put the ice skating scene in here merely for my own benefit but I hope you guys enjoy it :). Also vegetarianism, yes that's another bit of my personality seeping through. I am a vegetarian, but I figured it also might make sense! You never actually see Chihiro eating any sort of meat in the movie, and with the turn of her parents into pigs I figured it would only make sense she would psychologically turn away from meat after that.**

**Also I've created a blog for this fan fiction, I'll be posting pictures and little extra stuff to go along with this fan fiction on there I already have some stuff up there so check it out! The link is on my profile page.**

**Thanks to everyone who has REVIEWED and I hope you all had a great Christmas:)**


	6. Home

**Jikarashino-Haruko – thanks for your review as always :) I had fun writing that part. Don't worry it's all good! And as to your question I'm from middle south eastern United States.**

**PiiXXiiEE – hospitals make me shudder :/ hope you don't have to go back in for more surgery! And I wasn't expecting to put the amnesia in but it's proving itself necessary to the story.**

**StarRainer101 – hope I answered your question somewhat in the PM :)**

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><p>She was being wheeled off by doctors and nurses of various heights and colors; all in green scrubs. She didn't know where, but she did know why and she had nothing to fear because of it. The truth was she couldn't see herself being scared of anything anymore. There was no reason to be.<p>

She said goodbye to her mother and father, while stealing one last glimpse out the window at the falling snow. She only just then seemed to notice the indigo river flowing deep within the hills. The snowflakes seemed to dance around the river; they needed to be around that river. In that instant she knew that's where she needed to be. Not strapped down in some kami forsaken hospital bed, but outside dancing barefoot in the snow and swimming in the river, _forget the cold_, she thought, she only wanted to be out there; feeling snow entangle themselves in her lush eyelashes and to feel the water whipping her hair.

She could feel the sedatives taking over her body and gladly succumbed to the darkness, knowing fully that when she woke up, possibly everything would make sense. It didn't.

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><p>The doctors didn't understand. How was this possible? The spine had been fractured in three places, they were sure of it. The image of the first x-ray confirmed everything. Yes. There had been 3 distinct fractures. Two had healed. This wasn't possible! It defied all traces of logic, the accident had only occurred 3 weeks or ago. Her aorta had healed itself, which should not have been possible. All traces of deep bruises were gone, those should have lasted at least a week more. The only thing they needed to do was pin the spine and it should heal on its own. While they had expected at least 3 months of physical therapy for recovery, now they would be surprised if she needed any. In dumbfound shock all the assembled doctors and surgeons found themselves wondering. <em>Who is this girl?<em>

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><p><strong>2 and a half months later (Yes I am THAT lazy!)<strong>

Her memories hadn't returned. Only familiar tugs and pulls seemed to lap at something deep within her subconscious. She felt drawn to water and snow, that she knew without a doubt. She needed to be with the water and snow almost at all times. She didn't understand this phenomenon but accepted it; after all it only felt natural. Why deny instinct?

Her leg and back had healed completely. Dumbfounding even the highest professionals, they didn't understand how this was possible. She didn't question it though. The injuries hadn't proved devastating but merely a temporary annoyance. Against all odds she could walk perfectly.

She had become slightly more outgoing, unafraid to pick up a light conversation with someone. She found sanction in her room most of the time though. She had a window seat that she liked to open her window to and sit. Letting the snow flow in and touch her, she needed the snow almost it seemed. The way each one was different seemed to enthrall her. The purity of the pristine white droplets seemed as if it was the only thing keeping her sanity in these strange times.

She didn't understand many things going on but she did understand that she wasn't the same person she used to be, but she did understand how to adapt. She had to relearn how to cope with her long hair, it wasn't that long before. She liked the chestnut locks with white in it; it was a part of her that wasn't there before. She didn't know how the white was in her hair; she just accepted the fact that she may have done it before for some odd reason. It felt right when the snow fell on her hair. She more often than not wore her hair down, something she had never done before.

One day she had found a purple hair tie buried underneath stacks of paper on her desk. She immediately felt a tug in the back of her mind; knowing completely it was a nice part of her past. How a hair tie was important to her she didn't know, but didn't question it. It felt as if a part of her was settled once she wore the hair tie; a peaceful wave would wash over her. Not wanting to take her hair fully up, she compromised often with a half up half down hairstyle that still left tresses handing down her back.

She had to learn how to get accommodated with the ever dreaded bra situation. The last she remembered she was 10 and as flat chested as ever. But with a mature body came…well…extra items. They weren't large by any means, but were more than what she had been used to. It felt rather uncomfortable at first, but quickly grew used to it and was now grateful for the support.

Then one day came something dreadful. Something she had only heard about, but from memory's sake had never experienced. She knew she had to have dealt with this before, but it was shocking none the less. She felt absolutely helpless at her body's expense of a natural pattern. Wanting to scream and cry at the same time; for kami's sake she was supposedly close to 19 years old and had no idea how to cope with a period. She knew nothing. Going to her mother was going to be extremely awkward but proved itself a necessity. The girl laughed at herself now for being so clueless as to her own world.

Her father had offered to reteach her how to drive. But she wanted nothing to do with cars anymore. Not because of the accident, but because it just seemed wrong. Why simply pass through nature without being able to feel it? It was a small town; she could walk everywhere she went. Finding gratitude in the presence of nature anything different than relishing in it every way seemed wrong.

She found herself picking up the sport of running, only to give herself an excuse of being outside all the time. She told her parents it was because she wanted to be in better shape, but only she knew the truth. They suggested buying her a treadmill because it was cold outside, but she wouldn't hear of it. The cold was what she craved, of course she never found it cold, it was always endearing.

Deciding what she needed most at that moment was to be outside; finding no sanctuary in her small upper room; she changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tank top despite the freezing temperature outside. She wore no shoes, she saw no reason to; her parents wouldn't scold her for this now as it was nearing 2 am and they were surely asleep.

Once closing the door gently, she was off. Gliding gracefully over the compact snow that lined the sidewalks, she decided to let instinct take over completely then. Feeling the snow empower her rather than fighting it to gain leverage in her steps. The snow hoisted her every step. She loved the snow, but she knew something was missing. As if on cue light rain seemed to mix in with the falling snow. She smiled. Everything was perfect.

Without realizing it she took a different route than usual. She usually found herself treading towards town, running towards the school before turning back around. Unconsciously she was making her way towards the old woods behind her house. The snow on the ground was seemingly pushing her towards them; the light rain seeming to encourage her every step; a light breeze seemed to give her a gentle nudge. All were calling to her.

Only realizing where she was going before facing it full on, she tried to protest. She had never been this way before and she wasn't sure how she would make her way back home, it was unfamiliar territory. Something greater than herself wouldn't let her stoop though, she _had_ to keep going.

Red plaster is what she was greeted with next. Paint chipping all the way through a long tunnel. Once she stood in the doorway of a tunnel proving seemingly endless she forced herself to stop. In this tunnel the elements couldn't reach her, she was shielded by the roof above where snow and rain couldn't penetrate her anymore. She felt tugs, so many tugs, things wanted to flow into her, filling the gaps in her missing memory. But it was almost like a word at the tip of your tongue, it just _wouldn't come!_ She wanted to cry out in frustration. The purple hairband holding the locks off her sweat drenched face warmed, and there was a faint glow. She was almost afraid to look and see what the glow was. Before she could compromise her crisis of finding out what the glow was, wind blew. Wind blew ghastly hard. It was the strongest wind she had ever experienced in her life and it seemed to envelope every part of her. Wrapping itself around her it forced her through the tunnel. Forcing her home.

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><p><strong>It's short! I'm sorry! This was all I could do for this chapter, I wanted to wait a little bit before sending her back, but like some of you already are, I was growing impatient too! I wanted her to be back there, and hey, it's my story, I can do what I want with it haha!<strong>

**There may not be an update for a few days, life is crazy right now, I've committed myself to a ton of parties with friends and my boyfriend. I have a life outside of writing I have to live, so sorry if they don't come as frequently from now on as I will have to return to school next week :/**

**I'm suffering from a bit of writers block at the moment, I know where I'm going with this story and where I'd like it to be eventually, it's just a matter of getting there is what's proving difficult for me. **


	7. Mizu Sen

**!READ THIS AUTHORS NOTE BEFORE THE CHAPTER!**

**Really quick I want to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who is even reading this! Over 800 hits! Wow I never expected to get even close to that! And with those subscribed but not reviewing thank you for letting me know of your existence by subscribing so a huge thank you to**

**BlackWerewolfOfPurpleRoses, **

**Maranette,**

**Peiwen,**

**PiiXXiiEE**

**xXRaspberriLycheeXx**

**Who are subscribed :) **

**StarRainer101 – I understand totally what you mean! Haku's my favorite character, I can't read a SA fan fic if he's not in it. It bugged me not getting to write him into the last chapter, but I just couldn't find a place for him in it. **

**ThoraGem – thanks for your concerns, you are correct in saying that her name is Lin IN THE ENGLISH VERSION, but as I said in my authors note in chapter 2 I'm using her JAPANESE name of Rin in my story because I think it sounds prettier and more befitting to her character *sorry to anyone named lin out there reading this*. The studios changed her name from Rin to Lin when dubbing the English version, it's all out there free for you to look up. Oh and with the caps lock I wasn't yelling at you it was just to try to add emphasis:)**

**Isis SunCloud – thanks for the suggestion, I already have in my head the whole scene where they meet :) feel free to make any other suggestions though! I love hearing people's suggestions in the story!**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – díky! I've been trying to figure out how you spell it haha :) so vďaka za Váš názor! (feel free to correct that!) I asked my friend from Czech how to say it but I completely forgot by the time I got home so I googled it :) haha! I think I'm getting over my writers block. With the running thing I'm glad it touched you! I already do that haha, Im forced to run 2 miles, that would roughly be 4 kilometers maybe, a day for skating, and when there's snow I run barefoot :) I've long since gotten over any aversion to cold! Thank you so much I hope you have a fantastic new year!**

**Miko potter – thank you for your review! Please don't waste money to review for me! I really appreciate it but please don't waste necessary money to review for me, thanks so much though:) I'll try my best to make this story as good as it possibly can be so please no flames haha! Thank you, it's people like you who keep giving me the motivation to write!**

**THANK EVERYONE SO MUCH! WITHOUT YOUR WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND THOSE READING I WOULD NOT BE WRITING AT ALL :)**

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><p>Haku stared at Zeniba dumbstruck. What did she mean Chihiro was far from death? She had to be! Her soul wasn't listed amongst the humans, it was gone, that meant she was dead.<p>

"Zeniba, as much as I would like to believe you, it cannot be. Her soul isn't amongst the human kind anymore. She is gone." He said setting the hairband back in the box. It seemed to taunt him with wishful thinking that he knew he would not get.

"Oh, Haku. Ever the closed minded aren't we." Zeniba chuckled meekly. "I do not know what the white and blue represent, but she is certainly alive and well. If she were ill the band would turn red, if she were in danger it would turn green, if she were content and safe it would remain purple. It has always remained purple as she has never been in danger. Yes she had the occasional cold which is the most common human disease there is, in which case the band darkened a shade a bit, but nothing ever drastic." Then she was just talking to herself "Blue and white, I did not make anything for blue and white, and two colors were never supposed to mix. Peculiar indeed." She turned once more to the grief stricken dragon. "But as to why her soul isn't among the humans, that is rather simple indeed." She finished with a sparkle in her eye, signaling she would say no more on the subject.

Haku would not let her off with that, he needed to know. "Tell me." He stated blankly.

She gave him a curious look. "Tell you what?" she replied with an innocent voice and curious look in her eyes. He could see through the charade quite easily.

"Her soul; why is it not among the humans?"

"Oh, I know nothing of the subject." She said walking off with a flick of her hand. The atmosphere changed. Haku was unsure of what it was; was it heavier or lighter? The essence of it was different. He didn't dwell on it long as he needed answers.

"You just said you knew!" he replied aghast with frustration.

Zeniba smirked. "Oh, I'm sure I can find an answer somewhere. I may know already, I have a hunch." She was not going to make this easy on him, which was clear already. Her motives for this, he was unsure of though.

"I searched through the abyss of human souls. I sent my subconscious form to the canyons in the east and searched through where no light touched. As you are aware that is where souls are stored. I searched for so long, but her effervescent purple soul was not there. Souls only disappear for one reason Zeniba! She has to be dead!"

Zeniba merely glanced his way; she was preoccupied with searching through her cabinets for a tea pot to start a new batch going. "Oh, but she's not dead Haku. I can assure you that."

He could feel himself losing his temper quickly. "And how is it you know?" he replied calmly.

"The hairband of course!" she retorted placing teabags in the now boiling water.

"Then explain to me where her soul is." He was starting to lose all traces of patience.

"Oh, I can't do that." She said now getting cups.

"Why not?" he demanded.

A gleam entered her plate sized eyes as she turned to look at him. "Because that would be no fun, Haku." She finished off with a slight smile.

That struck him, he lost his temper. Grabbing the nearest thing in proximity – a plate- her threw it hard at the wall. His cheeks flushed with fury as he turned back to the old woman. She merely smiled. "Thank you for completing the spell Haku."

He stood there breathing deeply for a few moments. What was this witch's motive? "While you were examining the hairband I cast an easy spell, but it could not be completed without one thing: a dragon's fury. Thank you for your fury Haku, for that you have just missed out on three months' time" she gave a sly smile "that's right, you have been here for a total of almost three months all together now, you have been missing from the bath house and a search has gone out for you."

He was dumbstruck, but would not get angry again. He didn't want his anger to be used for magic again. "What's your motive witch? I used to greatly respect you but it's diminished at a fast rate tonight."

"Oh you'll gain respect for me once more Haku very soon I'm certain. As for my motives, those you will just have to figure out on your own, in a while I'm sure everything will make sense. Now, I'm sure my sister would like to have a talk with you immediately. Goodbye Haku!" she finished once more.

He was confused, angry, remorseful, but mixed in with this all was a sliver of hope. His little Chihiro could still be alive yet, it defied all logic so he didn't linger too long on the thoughts. He could end up being heartbroken all over again.

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><p>He immediately flew back to the bath house, knowing that his room fee would be monstrously high by now. That didn't bother him in the least though; all rivers had their treasures hidden. He needed to talk to Yubaba right then. If he couldn't wriggle information out of Zeniba, then he would try Yubaba. He knew Yubaba's tactics and schemes left and right. If he were cunning enough he was sure he could get any information he wanted through the old witch. She and Zeniba knew more than anyone in this world could even fathom. That was a part of being the cursed witch twins. Of course Yubaba was smart, no one could deny that, but she was oh so careless with all the knowledge she held.<p>

He landed on the balcony of Yubaba's office planning to just barge in uninvited; that is until he saw a girl in the office. There was a familiar air about this girl, it was compelling. He could not see the girl very clearly through the frost bitten glass, but from what he could make out she was wearing odd clothing and had strange hair. Both were clearly unknown to this world. Was it possible this was a human? The scent told him no, this girl smelled pleasantly of rain water and moss, the type you would find caked down to the bottom of a river, all mixed with the frigid scent of winter wind. The scent was endearing and stirred something deep inside him. Only one person's scent had ever intrigued him this much, but her scent was distinctly of pine. It had always been of winter pine. Who could this girl be?

He hesitated a moment before opening the door and inviting himself in. "Yubaba, I'm back."

"Kohaku!" she shouted in surprise. "As much as I would like to collect your room fee now, I have to set up this girl with a job. I'll be with you in a moment." She gave him a wave of her hand. She turned to the girl who was wearing distinct human clothes. Tight black pants and a sleeveless blue top, no such clothes were heard of in the spirit world. But that is where he was confused, her clothes screamed human, but everything about her no. She had long chestnut hair, chestnut. He had only seen that shade of chestnut once before. Looking again he saw it matched exactly. No shade difference, dragons had impeccable memory and he knew it was not failing him this time. But as memory served correct, he knew that Chihiro did not have white _glowing_ streaks in her hair. No spirit had hair that glowed. Her eyes, they didn't match at all. Chihiro had the loveliest chocolate brown eyes, the girl that stood before him had wide almond shaped gray eyes. The color matched the snow clouds outside perfectly. Still they haunted him, they told stories of things past. Hidden. The shape matched hers perfectly, but human eyes did not change color. He sighed, as much resemblance there was here, this could not be his precious one.

"Sign your name on this contract girl, and I will set you up with a job." Yubaba said formally while the pen and paper floated towards the girl.

"Um, madam." She spoke meekly but formally. Haku felt his knees buckle at the sound of the voice. He knew that voice, it was older, but he knew it. But of course, he knew this was not his precious one. "I do not know my name."

Yubaba gasped "How do you not know your own name!"

"I do not know. I don't remember anything; I only know little things about myself; Little more."

"Tell me what you know of yourself. I will compose a name for you out of that, something suitable."

She began softly "I know I am drawn to water. In every form I love it. I feel drawn to rivers, oceans, lakes; I feel I need to be near them. The snow is everything to me, I need snow, it calls to me." While she was talking her hair shone brighter and her glassy gray eyes came to life, beginning to show little flakes of blue in them. "I know not how I came to be here. I know that I was running though. I ran through a tunnel and all the sudden, the snow seemed to grab me and force me to the door of the bath house. The next thing I knew I was being escorted up here by a strange frog."

Yubaba seemed to contemplate this a moment before speaking. "It seems fate has a firm grasp on you. I know who you are dear. I know everything about you. But I will not tell you, that is for you to find out."

Haku stepped in feeling a sudden urge to defend the strange girl. "Yubaba, that is not fair. This girl obviously remembers nothing! You should show her a little more kindness."

"Kohaku, this is not your place to step in with. Learn your place! Fate has her hands on this girl and in time will find her place, but it is not for me to intervene more than what my hand has been dealt. As for you my dear, seeing as you favor water in its forms, your name shall be Mizu-Sen. **(1)" **Haku was aghast at the name. How dare she use part of Chihiro's name in this? It belonged to her and her only.

"Thank you lady Yubaba." The new Mizu-Sen replied, giving the standard bow of respect. Yubaba called for the frog attendant and he escorted her out, finding her a new position.

Once gone Haku hotly demanded to Yubaba "How dare you use Chihiro's old name as a part of this new person?"

"I will answer all your questions _after _you have paid me your room fee!" she retorted holding her hand out for payment. He carelessly summoned the money owed out of thin air. "Now, as to why I gave her that name I don't know. It only seemed right to give it to her."

He sighed though still angered; it wasn't his business, even though how wrong it was bothered him. "Yubaba?" he coaxed in a soft tone.

"What?" she snapped settling back down to scribble on some papers.

"I was reading the other day, and I found something very peculiar."

"What is it you're getting at Haku?" she grumbled, still staring at the papers.

"Well, how is it that a human soul can disappear from the abyss in the canyons, and still live?" he asked innocently.

She set her pen down and stared back at him. She smirked and replied "that is very old and cryptic tales, Kohaku. What is it that you've been reading in to?"

"It matters not; can you just answer my question?"

She sat back thinking about this for a moment. "This is something you really would like to know, am I right?" he nodded his head. "Then, I won't tell you."

He howled in fury. "And why not?" he demanded.

"Oh, maybe in time I will tell you. But tonight is not the night."

"Then when _is_ the night?"

"Only time will tell, but the answer will come with a price. If you want the answer to the information that's obviously very important to you, then you will help Mizu-Sen." She demanded

"Why should I? I don't know her at all."

"Because I said to, Kohaku! Get to know her, maybe in time you will see my reasoning. Aid her, guide her, be her advocate in every way. Maybe in time you can restore her lost memories."

He did not like this, but agreed. He had to know where Chihiro was. "Now, get going! Find Mizu-Sen, I believe she has already been employed." She ordered with a gleam in her eye.

He paraded out of the room throwing one last glance at Yubaba. Her eyes held secrets he could tell. Secrets of what she was hiding, and he was determined to find out what.

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><p><strong>THEY WERE RIGHT THERE! THEY WERE RIGHT THERE AND DIDN'T KNOW EACH OTHER! GAH!<strong>

**I'm honestly mad at myself for having to write that, but it had to be done! If you flame me for this I probably wouldn't blame you, I was mad at myself for having to do it.**

**Her name roughly translates into English as "Thousand waters" I though this fitting as she loved every type of water in its every form.**

**HAVE A GREAT NEW YEARS EVERYONE!**


	8. Magic

**StarRainer101 – thanks! Hope you had a great new year!**

**Kat Nikolaevsky – haha! Well don't feel so bad about that, when I checked my email over at a friend's house and saw that I started cracking up! All my friends and boyfriend thought I had gone insane! So now we're in the crazy category together haha! Hope you had a great new year!**

**PiiXXiiEE – yeah I understand how it's frustrating, it frustrated me having to write it. Haha thanks :) Hope you had a great new year!**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – haha thanks! As you can see my Slovak isn't good at all! Haha I found Yubaba and Zeniba a little annoying in this chapter too, but they have their motives. D****í****ky! I hope you had a great new year!**

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><p>Mizu-Sen felt reborn. She didn't know who she was, or anything about her past, but she seemingly didn't care.<p>

The strange frog man escorted her down the extravagant bath house leading her to a small room off the eastern wing. She held a smile on her face for no apparent reason; even she didn't know the cause. But ever since she left the head witch's office she had been in a fantastic mood, even her hair seemed to glow brighter with glee. Although she would never admit it to herself, the only thing on her mind was green eyes. Deep pools of emerald haunted her every thought; blushing upon this revelation she concentrated on the effervescence of the baths going on below her; she didn't know this man from eve; she shouldn't be thinking about him like this after glancing his way possibly twice.

The kami seemed to relish the baths, having yuna scrub them down and pampering them. They truly seemed refreshed by the spices and herbs mixed in with the murky waters below. She smiled, wondering what it felt like to be pampered like that.

The frog man guided her down a seemingly endless corridor; at last they reached a room filled with light and _many _kami. They all seemed to be eating some sort of noodle in a bowl; Mizu-Sen was unsure what it was but came to the conclusion that this was some sort of room where they took a rest from work. All the kami in the room turned and gaped at the new girl. It was nothing new to gain a new employee, but someone with _glowing _hair? No one had _ever _seen that. There was only one other person in the spirit world with hair that glowed, and they knew this was certainly not she.

The frog spoke formally but demanding "Listen up! We have a new apprentice that needs to be taken under someone's wing! Who will take her?"

Not a moment had passed before the sound of glass breaking against the floor rang clear through the room. A slender woman with long auburn hair immediately stood up. "I want her! Give her here!" it looked as if others were going to oppose but the young woman stared around with a deadly gleam in her eyes, daring them to speak against her. Nobody did.

"Mizu-Sen, this is Rin, you are now her assistant and will help her with whatever she asks of you." Stated the frog man, Mizu-Sen bowed towards him as he took his leave.

The woman in salmon colored clothes paraded towards her, after appraising her up and down for a minute she decided her acceptable. "You've got good strong muscles, I can tell you're tough kid, I like you already." She said smirking. Mizu-Sen simply bowed. "Oh, don't bow to me! I hate it when people do that! I only bow to two people, and I expect in time you'll do the same." She smirked. Mizu-Sen remained quiet, determined to stay quiet under the reproachful eyes of the kami staring at them. Rin didn't seem to notice. "Are you hungry? You're skinny as my broom pole!" she shook her head no. "Then let's get out of here!" Rin said, turning Mizu-Sen around and steered her out the door, hands on her shoulders guiding her.

They reached a corridor determined empty Mizu-Sen decided to speak up. "Rin, why did you want me?'

Rin took her hands off her shoulders and spun her around to face her, a slight smile on her face. "Like I said, I like you girl. I could tell you were tough, and I needed a new assistant. I haven't had one in almost…" she paused doing the math in her head "8 years." She determined.

"Oh really? What was she like?" Mizu-Sen asked suddenly filled with curiosity, and a strange sense of déjà vu.

"She was 10 years old. Puny little thing, she had short brown hair and brown eyes. The color of her brown is like the brown in your hair." She paused inspecting her hair, grabbing a strand she gaped. "Actually, it's _exactly_ the same color! Whoa that's weird." She let the strand go, and stared the girl down as if trying to determine where a puzzle piece went. "Anyway," she continued her eyes still critical, "she was probably the weakest girl I had ever known, but she had a fire in her greater than anything I've ever seen. She refused to back down in any difficult situation." She finished off with a smirk; her eyes were distant as consoling a long repressed memory.

"What happened to her?" Mizu-Sen felt the sudden need to know what happened of this girl. She _had _to know.

"She went back to her world. She was only here for about 4 days. She was a human here to…take care of some business, and when she finished, she returned to her world." She replied, pausing every so often to determine the right words as to not give too much of the girl away. That was personal.

"What was her name?"

"I never found out her real name. None of the bathhouse workers know their real name, it's part of the contract. She remembered her real name and was able to leave. Her name while working here was Sen."

That name was vaguely familiar. Mizu-Sen felt a tug in the back of her head. It had been happening a lot lately, and was gradually beginning to grow annoying. "Just like my name."

"Yeah; just like yours." She said distantly without emotion.

Rin turned back around and walked in front of the lesser girl. "I also chose you because you kind of remind me of her." She said quietly, almost more to herself. She turned back around with a new found light in her eyes. "Come on, let's get you out of those ridiculous clothes!" giving her a shove once more down the desolate corridor.

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><p>Waking up the next morning proved to be a feat easier said than done. The frazzled girl seemed to jerk awake into a sitting position on her sleeping mat. She had a dream but forgot it all once she woke up, all she knew is that was enough to leave her more confused than she had been in her entire life.<p>

A shadow moved in front of her "Well sleeping beauty finally wakes up!"

"What's going on Rin?" she replied groggily at the figure. She glanced up at the woman, she looked the exact same as yesterday but with bloodshot eyes. "Why are your eyes red?"

"Because I couldn't sleep that's why!" she hotly retorted, then her face smoothed out. "Come on, get up and get dressed. We have work to do today."

She climbed out of the thick blanket that shrouded her. "Why couldn't you sleep?" she asked, pulling her new salmon colored shirt over her head.

"Your hair glows." She stated plainly.

She stopped to consider this for a moment. It was nothing she didn't already know, what was the problem with that? "Yes, and?"

"And it seems to glow brighter in your sleep! It was like having the sun pressed against my face!"

"Oh, Rin. I'm so sorry! I-I never thought…"

She was cut off "Save it. We'll just have to wrap your hair up from now on. It's fine. I can work just fine without a night's sleep."

"Thank you Rin."

"For what?" she inquired.

"For everything." She said, and walked over to the sleepy and wrapped her arms around her.

"Hey, no need to get all sentimental." She said and held the younger girl at arm's length. "Just gotta do something about that odd hair of yours." She let the girl go, and walked over to make up her bed.

After a moment the girl went to make up her own sleeping area. She hesitantly "Rin, people keep looking at me strange. Why?"

"It's your hair."

"What about my hair?"

"Well, it's two colors. No one has two colors in their hair. Our hair represents our domain usually, like river spirits hair is usually greenish blue, fire spirits red, everyone else has brown hair. Also, it _glows_. _No one's hair glows in this world!_" after putting their stuff away Rin continued, "Well, except for one person. Lady Ka-Tsuchi, our highest deity. She and her husband are the rulers of the spirit world. I've never met her; that honor is bestowed on only the highest nobility. I'll go into the class system later. But anyways, from what I've heard she's absolutely beautiful with long chestnut hair and red glowing hair. She's the only spirit that's supposed to have hair that glows as it represents her status and element of fire. Red is the color of summer, the spirit world has always been in a summer like state from what I can remember at least. Like you I can't remember much of my past. But from what I can remember, this is only our eighth winter. Lady Ka-Tsuchi has decided to rest, causing this winter. She never felt the need to rest before which is why we were in a permanent summer state, but for some reason she's seemed to go into hibernation bringing this winter." She finished eying Mizu-Sen carefully. "Okay, now that's done with, let's get to work."

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><p>The new team was assigned to the big tub that day. Ever since the girl named Sen had left; Yubaba made it a habit of giving new employees the job of breaking themselves in with the big tub. It had proved to work once, and it worked every time after that. Starting them off on the hardest tub they had leaved them grateful to do whatever task they were assigned after that. Neither complained, but it was easy to see Rin was in quite a sour mood after that.<p>

Mizu-Sen's mouth dropped once they entered the room, it was filthy! Muck caked the walls and tub. Seaweed and fur were scattered around the floor. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years despite the fact that Rin insisted it was cleaned only two weeks ago.

Rin suggested they start with the walls saying it would make the whole process easier after that. They scrubbed the sludge until they could see the tree design hidden behind the muck.

"Finally!" Rin cried as she found a certain plank in the wall. Opening it she explained how it could be used to order water to help lift the sludge in the tub. "Okay, I'll go get us some breakfast and then we'll tackle the floor." She said gesturing to the seaweed, fur, and other miscellaneous items. With that she walked out of the room.

Mizu-Sen stood there quite awkwardly not knowing what to do. Across the halls she could see other workers and their assistants cleaning their tubs, no one else was taking a break. She felt like she was being lazy just sitting there doing nothing while everyone else was working. Her mind made up she picked up the broom nearest to her and started to sweep. It was caked so thick to the floor she had to thrust all of her body weight to get it to move.

By the time she had half the room's filth piled in a stack as tall as her in one corner, she was panting. It had taken everything out of her to get just that! How was she going to get the rest of the room done?

As if her thoughts were being read Rin walked back into the room holding two bowls of rice. "Mizu-Sen what are you doing?" she demanded.

"Everyone…was working…felt bad…lazy…you got no sleep…" she panted, unable to say anymore.

"That was dumb thing to do you dope! I told you I'm just fine without sleep! It takes a lot to shake me." She cried. Her temper was starting to settle. "I'm sorry, you're just so puny it's no wonder it tired you out. Go on sit in that corner and eat, I'll take care of the rest."

Mizu-Sen started to protest, but Rin raised a hand to silence her. "No way. You're going to eat. Sit!" she commanded. The girl did as she said.

Rin then picked up the broom that was tossed aside and started to run through the room with ease. She worked gracefully on lithe feet; the heavy scum proved no trouble for the girl and wasn't hindered by dwindling stamina. Mizu-Sen could only stare in awe; it put her feeble attempt to shame. In no time Rin was done and came over to join her in their breakfast.

"Don't worry about it, I've been doing this a _long _time." She said trying to comfort. The girl smiled in reply. They sat in comfortable silence after that, enjoying their meal. Mizu-Sen absolutely devoured hers, there was no telling the last time she had eaten, but she guessed it was a long time by the way her stomach growled at her.

A slight rattling noise brought both the girls heads up to stare at their visitor. Rin who had a mouthful of rice swallowed noisily before getting up to greet the intruder.

Mizu-Sen knew she had seen this man before. Tall and lithe, muscular but not bulky; teal hair that hang down his back and was tied together at a point about 4 inches below his shoulders, leaving strands to hang in his face. Sharp bangs cut off right below his eyebrows. It was the boy from Yubaba's office last night. Emerald eyes met snowy gray for a moment and turned away.

"Haku, what are you going here?" Rin asked

"I am here for you ladies" he simply replied

"Why?"

He paused for a moment as if searching for a quick answer. "I am under Yubaba's employment once more, but just for a short while. It seems that while I was away someone has stolen all my money and I did not have the required amount to suffice for the room charges."

"So in other words you're broke and need a job to pay off debt." Rin inquired. He paused a moment, and then nodded. Rin then burst out laughing. "You had it coming for ya someday!"

He shrugged it off. "Come on, _Master _Haku." She said giving a mock bow.

"There will be none of that now; I am no longer Yubaba's apprentice. I am not under contract as I am just working to repay a small debt." He stood a little straighter.

This caused Rin to laugh a little harder. "Then what are you doing here?" she demanded.

"It would seem that I will be working with you two."

"What? Oh no, me and Sen…umm…I mean Mizu-Sen," he stiffened at the slip up of names, "have each other and we're proving a great team. So thank you, and goodbye." She said trying to shove him out the door.

"Orders from Yubaba. I was specifically asked to assist you two. If you do not like it you may speak with Yubaba, but warn you it might just cost you your life."

She sighed, rolled her eyes annoyed. As annoying as Haku was she would rather put up with him than take it up with Yubaba. "Fine, but you better work your ass off!" he chuckled slightly at this.

"Come on Mizu-Sen, time to tackle the sludge in here." She gestured to the real challenge of the day: the tub. She grabbed a sponge and bucket of water and climbed into the tub.

The boy made his way over to the girl in the corner who had her head cast down, suddenly taking an interest in her bare feet. "Very interesting hair you have, I have only seen such hair on Lady Ka-Tsuchi, but her hair glowed fire red. Yours is snow white, no white is more pristine. I am interested to know how your hair came to acquire such a color, and what magic causes it to glow?"

"I-I don't know."

He nodded, "I apologize, I forgot you have memory loss. But all the same, you must have great magic stored in you for your hair to light up as such."

She gaped at him. Magic? He smile at her dumbfound look. "I am Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi, but you may call me Kohaku or merely Haku."

She smiled, feeling another tug at her memories, before she even had time to think she blurted "Haku, I'd like to call you Haku." He smiled and nodded.

Rin poked her head over the rim of the tub. "Oh yeah? Well I'd like to call him a pompous jackass."

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><p>A spirit was coming. Everyone could sense it in the air, and it would be no easy feat to treat this guest. No one knew a thing about the spirit coming towards them, but they knew it would prove to be a challenge.<p>

All of the bath house workers assembled on the bridge and in the balconies overlooking the small town; all were awaiting the guest.

Yubaba with her silver bun piled on her head seemed to slacken a bit as stress was eating its way at her. Rin and Mizu-Sen flanked her right, Haku on her left. All stood in silence. All the lights of the bathhouse had been turned off in order to conserve energy they would need later for this guest. The only light was radiating from Mizu-Sen's hair.

It came without warning. All of the sudden it was standing on the bridge, it had teleported there out of thin air, and it was on fire. This spirit obviously was in no need of a relaxing bath, but of ridding the flames that singed on every inch of the woody looking skin.

The spirit had to be at least ten feet tall, it looked humanoid in figure, but that was as far as resemblances went. Its skin was literally wood and it seemed to have branches growing off it, leaves adorned his crown in place of hair. It was a woodland spirit, who appeared that its forests were on fire. It became clear that they would not just be healing this spirit, but its whole woods.

It howled in pain.

"Water spirits! Get ready! Everyone else go in and grab as many buckets as you can and fill them with water!" commanded Yubaba. Everyone broke at once; the majority of people ran inside to fetch buckets as they had no control over the elements. Haku and Yubaba ran forwards preparing to douse him. Yubaba opened her hands to the sky, said a prayer, and rain started to pour. It was so heavy you could barely see anything, but it proved futile. The spirit was still ablaze.

Haku moved lithely and gracefully. It was almost as if he were dancing, moving in perfect harmony with the water shooting up from the makeshift sea below. The water was at his mercy and crashing against the spirit. It was enchanting to watch.

Mizu-Sen stood there in awe; she was so fixated on watching Haku that she completely forgot about the task at hand. As much as she wanted to stand there and watch him dance, she knew she had to work. Running into the bathhouse proved to be maddening, it was completely dark and she had only her hair to guide her. She finally reached the bucket station where an arachnid man was throwing buckets left and right with his many arms. Another tug in her memory, but she didn't have time to dwell on that. She ran back out to the lake and dipped the bucket into the water. Avoiding the sprays of water Haku was causing against the spirit she ran fearlessly towards the spirit, prepared to throw the water. She reared her arms back and thrust the bucket forward. A block of ice fell out instead of water.

"What?" she cried in frustration. She didn't have time to ponder what was going on; she figured it was a spirited watching in the balcony that wanted to toy with her.

She ran back and repeated the process of getting water. Running back to the spirit she thrust the bucket once more; another block of ice fell out. She threw the bucket in rage, balled her fists and screamed.

Silence. Absolute black silence is what followed. Her fists still balled she opened her eyes slowly. Time seemed to have frozen. The spirit on fire was literally encased in a huge block of ice, she watched as the flames slowly suffocated and died. Breathing hard she continued to look around; everyone was encased in their own blocks of ice. Why wasn't she? Then she noticed panting and heard footsteps walking towards her. She was immediately scared.

Gentle hands grabbed her wrists. She forced herself to look up and saw pools of emerald; her heart seemed to skip a few beats and then become a hummingbird. He spoke gently. "Mizu-Sen slowly open your hands." The voice commanded. She took a deep breath, never once tearing her gray eyes away from the green; she slowly released the tension of her hands. He moved his hands from her wrists and moved them down to grasp her hands and hold them in his. She heard people start to come back to life. The rain turned into snow.

She was lost in his eyes. "Did I do that?" she whispered, not caring enough to look around and see the commotion. Her hands were still locked in his.

He gave a slight smile that didn't reach his eyes, and nodded yes.

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><p><strong>Who loves me? I didn't expect to get another chapter out so soon, but hey, inspiration struck and I HAD to write! <strong>

**Ka-Tsuchi translates roughly into English as fire and earth.**

**I never intended for so much to happen in this chapter, I planned to cut it off after Rin called haku a "pompous jackass" *giggles at that* but hey, consider it a new year's present that I continued and gave you guys this extra scene! Do you think this fic is moving too fast? Because I've been feeling like it is, and I've tried to prolong it without dragging. I'm having too much fun with this fic, and with the way things are going I can only guesstimate about another 5 chapters, and I wanna write 20!**

**I've created a blog for this fan fiction where I'll be posting pictures and stuff for this fan fic on, link is on my profile! Check it out!**

**Oh and I've also posted a new one shot, it's called Chihiro's Monthly Monster. I'll leave you to figure that out ;) haha, it's not really good, I wrote it as a humor one shot to get it out of my system so I could concentrate on this fic. A humor had been eating at me, so if you enjoy humors I encourage you to read it! Haha! **

**In the meantime please take 30 seconds of your time to review! Your reviews are what keeping me writing :) Hope everyone had a great new year!**


	9. Possessive

**MY LEGACY STORY STATS IS NOT WORKING! IT WILL NOT TELL ME HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE READING! SO IF YOU WANT MORE YOU HAVE TO REVIEW OR I WILL NOT KNOW THAT PEOPLE ARE READING, SO IF YOU WANT MORE, REVIEW, IF YOU WANT NO MORE OF THIS FIC, THEN DON'T REVIEW.**

**PiiXXiiEE – thanks! I try to stick as close to their personalities as possible, especially Lin/Rin. I just love her spitfire attitude, she's so fun for me to write that I can't help but to put some of her in when I can.**

**The Lifeless girl – thanks so much! I really appreciate that! As you asked here is another chapter!**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – ďakujem! I liked writing the little bit of fluff, and there's even more in this chapter!**

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><p>The snow in the human world had stopped. What was on the ground had turned to ice. The rivers had frozen over and the telephone wires were snapping under the weight of the ice. Japan looked like a tundra.<p>

No phone calls could be made, due to the failing lines; no one could leave their house due to the dangerous ice outside.

Three days it had been like this, three days without contact to the rest of the world, or any appearances of their precious daughter. They couldn't call the police and file a missing person report as the lines were all down. They couldn't go out and search because they would surely crash or slip and fall on the ice that covered every inch of land.

All they could do was hope. Hope the gods would take care of their daughter who didn't remember a thing about taking care of herself.

Yuuko stood in the window of the topmost floor, staring out at the landscape; wondering if their daughter was somewhere out there. A cup of coffee held in her hands she gave a slight whimper and took a sip. Her husband walked in and placed his hands on her shoulders. She turned around and stared into his bloodshot eyes. Neither of them had slept in the past three days, they stayed up at all hours in case their precious daughter came home. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled her face into his chest to sob.

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><p>The fire was extinguished and all the lights in the bathhouse had turned back on, leaving every spirit in a massive state of confusion. It was as if they had blanked out in time; one moment there was no magical light in the bathhouse and the spirit was on fire, and literally in a blink of an eye the lights were on, and the fire was extinguished. Seeing their task was done they all cheered at their success, several of the bathhouse couples kissed and the little girls ran to each other and hugged. They all gradually made their way back into the bathhouse leaving only three remaining people.<p>

The spirit had lost some of his body mass, and the woody skin was charred; but it was obvious time would heal the wounds. He faded without a word of thanks, but left a small pile of gold to show his gratitude. Yubaba ran forward to collect the small treasure; seemingly the only thing she cared about.

Haku slowly let go of Mizu-Sen's hands once she seemed to get her breathing under control, the shock beginning to wear off. After a moment he managed to tear his eyes away from her stormy gray ones that reflected the clouds above perfectly.

"Good work…Kohaku" Yubaba said slowly, but eyed Mizu-Sen knowingly. She knew, but why she didn't acknowledge her part in this was unfathomable. She knew Yubaba had her secrets, but why she was keeping them from her she didn't know. She was anxious to know her past as Yubaba apparently knew everything about her, but didn't press her luck. She was being good to her by giving her a name and a job. Eyeing the younger girl curiously for a moment she spoke "Mizu-Sen, please see me in my office immediately." she turned away and flew towards her room on the top floor.

She felt herself grow quickly nervous, frankly the old with scared her a bit and the idea of being alone with her in her office scared her all the more. "I don't want to go." She said quietly to herself, but Haku heard.

"Don't worry, she may be stern but she is not evil. She probably just wants to talk to you about the…umm…incident tonight and your…involvement in the matter" He tried to comfort. She grabbed her elbows with the opposite hands. "Come inside." He said, wrapping an arm around her waist while walking them forward, trying to comfort her through physical touch. She shuddered at the contact. "Are you cold?"

"No." she insisted "I don't get cold."

He nodded. "Of course, it would only seem natural."

"Please don't tell." She whispered.

"I will speak of nothing on the subject this I promise."

She stopped the both of them and turned to stare at him "Why were you the only one not frozen?"

He considered this for a moment. "This I do not know, possibly it is because I am a water spirit and the magic would not act against my element in a different form. That is just a guess, I am not entirely sure though." She nodded and her breath hitched as his hand cupped her cheek. "I know I have only seemingly known you for just today, but I want you to know that you can trust me. I am your friend…Mizu-Sen." He said pausing before he said her name. It was difficult to get her name out of his mouth. _I am your friend, _those were words he had spoken to Chihiro and now he was willingly speaking them to this stranger. He was very confused.

She was breathless again as his hand forced her to look at him. She was lost in emerald again. "T-Thank you." Was all she could stutter, her breath hitching. Why was she acting like this? She only knew him properly for a few hours, but his touch was driving her to the brink of insanity!

A fire seemed to grow in his eyes; he dropped his hand immediately and took a step back. He closed his eyes and she heard him swallow and take a deep breath before opening them again; all traces of the fire disappeared. "Come, I will escort you to Yubaba's office." He beckoned, but did not touch her again.

In place of a flush that should have turned her cheeks chagrin, her face became paler; making it nearly white. "Are you all right?" he asked noticing the change in color. She nodded, refusing to meet his gaze and took an interest in the wooden boards of the bridge below. They walked in silence; he stood as far away from her as he could without seeming rude; hoping she wouldn't notice. She definitely noticed. _What did I do wrong?_ She wondered, wanting more than anything to close the distance between them. _What's going on with me! _She wanted this man without knowing a thing about him. She gave a slight giggle at the expense of her own sanity. Haku turned to look at her, one eyebrow cocked upwards in confusion; she pretended not to notice, wanting to avoid _that_ conversation at all costs at the moment.

The bathhouse was flooded with life and chatter so the silence didn't seem to drone on between the two. Mizu-Sen was almost grateful for the entire situation that had just recently happened; because of this everyone was in the mood to celebrate; which of course meant drinking themselves beyond oblivion. In their drunken state no one stopped to stare at the girl with gray eyes and glowing hair. She never knew being almost invisible would feel that good.

A drunken frog attendant staggered over the two awkwardly walking side by side blocking Mizu-Sen. "Well hello pretty lady." He said trying to be seductive. It was all she could to not to gag and throw up her dinner.

"Excuse me, I have to be on my way." She said quickly, trying to turn away from the repulsive frog man.

"Why in a hurry, got shthumwhere you have to be?" he said slyly, slurring his words, his glassy eyes looked her up and down and she grew quickly embarrassed. Her cheeks flushed with white. "Well, you don't anymore." He said making a lunge for her. She quickly side stepped. He had surprisingly good reflexes for someone that intoxicated, quickly straightening himself and pinning her against the wall; his hands running up her sided. It didn't last long before the frog was tossed aside and a much softer grasped hers pulling her along. They literally flew into the nearest elevator and the doors were closed before Mizu-Sen even had time to comprehend what had just happened.

She looked up into the smooth emotionless face of her savior, his eyes filled with a new kind of fire. Not the deep longing fire that was emitted on the bridge, but this fire rang dominant in the pools of emerald. He was angry, _very _angry. She wanted to try to comfort him, tell him she was okay, a little grossed out yes, but otherwise unharmed. "Please, don't say anything right now. I need a moment." He said in a deadly smooth voice. His eyes closed, making his face unreadable and he took a deep breath. "I have a temper I have to watch. I could have killed him quite easily," he almost whispered, his eyes still closed, "I've made a promise to watch it, the last time I lost it, it was used against me." She didn't pry; he obviously didn't want to talk about it any further. He slowly opened his eyes as the elevator dinged; signaling that was as far as that elevator would take them.

He slipped another arm around her waist to show that she was in his possession. She didn't know he did this to now protect her, she didn't care the reason behind him doing this; she just relaxed into his touch while resisting the urge to lay her head on his shoulder. Every muscle in his body was rigid with tension; he eyed every drunken and sober man that looked their way viciously. He was her protector in this moment.

They reached the next elevator and he dropped his arm from her waist once more. She sighed in disappointment, she liked the feeling. "You don't have to do that you know." She mumbled.

He obviously thought she was talking about something different "Yes, I do. These kami drink themselves so far that they can become dangerous if provoked; or quite lustful when they see a pretty girl." Her face became snowy white to match her hair at his last statement. "It is my duty as your….friend to protect you."

_That is definitely not what I meant! _She thought to herself frustrated, but didn't say anything. She could feel him looking at her, but refused to meet his gaze as she knew it would crumble the last bit of dignity she had.

The elevator dinged as they reached the very top floor, Mizu-Sen stepped out through the doorway and noticed she was alone. "You're not coming?" she asked towards Haku.

He shook his head no "Yubaba only asked for you." And with that the elevator door closed leaving her alone in the large foyer.

She walked forward, her footsteps echoing off the cold walls. Slowly approaching the doorknob that had the emblem of Yubaba's face; she knew the old witch was probably watching her so she bowed to it out of respect. "Good manners girl, come in." the door knob seemingly barked at her. The doors opened to unveil even more extravagant rooms and tapestries. She slowly started walking, wanting to prolong their meeting as much as possible. In all honesty she _was _nervous. She assumed Yubaba would ask her questions about her involvement on the bridge tonight, and she would have answers to none of them.

The witch was seemingly impatient tonight and Mizu-Sen suddenly found herself flying towards the office; using her heels to scrape against the floor to slow her down only seemed futile and caused a burn more than helping. She stumbled into Yubaba's office breathing heavily, unsure of what was going to happen.

"Calm down girl. I'm not going to harm you." The witch commanded grumpily. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in.

"What about tonight on the bridge? Aren't you going to ask me about that?" she speedily asked, wanting to get this over as quickly as possible.

"What would there be to discuss? Kohaku put the fire out with his water. _That's it._" She insisted. Mizu-Sen realized the witch was either being _kind_ or keeping more secrets. She figured it was the latter option. "I merely wanted to address something."

She waited for her to continue, not wanting to say anything as the witch might consider it rude. "As you may or may not know, the winter solstice is approaching rapidly in the human world. It will be the peak of winter. Since this is only the eighth winter the spirit world has experienced we are still growing accustomed to celebrating it. We usually celebrated the changing of the colors." Mizu-Sen had no idea what that meant but wasn't going to say anything "Oh stop with the dumb looks, I'll tell you what it means! Our deity Lady Ka-Tsuchi normally has fire red hair; you know this, as fire is her natural element. But after the season when it is unbearably hot her hair changes, still keeping some red as her natural element is fire, but green starts to flow through it. It is rather a lovely sight, the green actually moves through her hair and the fire." She spoke of their deity with such reverence that Mizu-Sen knew she would need to gain respect for her immediately. "When her hair changes the air becomes cooler, it is the loveliest time of the year. Humans call it spring. But ever since Lady Ka-Tsuchi decided to take her yearly rest we have moved our seasons to accommodate with those of the human world; celebrating the peaks of every season: the spring and summer equinoxes, and summer and winter solstices. Naturally we celebrate extravagantly for Lady Ka-Tsuchi's sake." She paused, seemingly saying that it should be obvious.

"What do you mean? How does this relate to me?"

Her plate sized eyes grew wide "A ball of course insolent girl! An extravagant dance to celebrate the winter."

Mizu-Sen gasped "I've never been to a ball from what I can remember, I'm not sure I even know how to dance."

"Quit being so imprudent, that's why we have magic; spells will be cast so everyone knows every dance and no one looks foolish, but that's out little secret," she said wagging a finger, "no one knows of the spells so it is more enjoyable for them. It will be a beautiful festival, held in the very center of the spirit world on a little island called mumei **(Japanese for no name)**. It will be transformed into a beautiful outdoor dancing facility. It will be a very formal event that every spirit attends in their best attire"

The whole idea of this sounded fun so far but there were still some issues. "But, Yubaba, I have nothing to wear."

"That is what I have called you up here for girl! I will not have a representative from my bathhouse dressed as a servant! Everyone else already has their own outfits to wear; seeing as you only have the clothes you came here in and the work clothes you are wearing now. Now hold still!" she commanded.

Out of nowhere a tape measure started measuring literally every inch of her body including some very awkward places, but the tape measure seemed to have no shame. When it was done an extravagant kimono appeared on a hanger that was being held on by the back of the door. It was certainly not a traditional kimono having slim straps holding up the shoulders. All traditional kimonos had long sleeves. It was all white except the dark blue obi that turned into a beautiful many layered train. There were snowflake designs dotted along the fabric, it was the most beautiful garment she had ever seen. She hesitantly raised her hand to stroke the silky fabric; afraid that if she touched it it would somehow disappear. The white of the fabric seemed to shine like snow reflecting moonlight, emitting a soft but not overpowering radiance. This garment surely could not be meant for her? It looked fit for a queen. **(A/N picture of dress is on my blog! Check it out!)**

"Of course it's yours girl! Take it!" snapped Yubaba. Her tone did not match the expression on her face however; a smug smile was plastered across her gargantuan head. She was obviously pleased at the fact that the girl liked it. Her voice softened a bit as she added "Those are the colors agreed upon for the ball. Dark blue and white represent the winter colors so it was decided that to celebrate winter in its entirety we should dress accordingly so."

"It's…beautiful." She said quietly, not tearing her eyes away from the garment. "Thank you." Yubaba merely nodded.

"When is the dance?"

"Tomorrow." The witch replied. _Tomorrow? _She had not expected it to be so soon.

Suddenly a realization hit her, did they have dance partners at these sorts of things? "Um, Yubaba?" she asked hesitantly. Yubaba grunted as a way of reply, her head pressed into account papers. "Do we have dance partners at these things? I don't really know anyone, and I think it would be a little awkward to dance with a stranger."

"There will be dances separate, and dances where you will be with a partner. Your partner is pre-determined, they say it's at random, but magic sometimes has its own idea of match making."

"Well, who will be my partner?" without looking up Yubaba made a white envelope float over to where the girl was standing. In formal cursive the envelope was addressed to _Mizu-Sen. _How did they know of her existence? She had only gotten here a day before. It was stamped with a royal seal to hold the envelope together. She quickly popped the seal off and opened it up. It was a type of envelope to where the whole thing was folded in on itself, doubling as the letter on the backside. She gasped as she read the name scribbled in beautiful kanji.

_Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi._

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><p><strong>Yes so it seems that a lot of SA fan fics have balls, but I want one in mine and it's my story so a ball there will be!<strong>

**Hope you liked some of the *somewhat* fluff ;)**

**Also if you missed it at the top, MY LEGACY STORY STATS IS NOT WORKING! IT WILL NOT TELL ME HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE READING! SO IF YOU WANT MORE YOU HAVE TO REVIEW OR I WILL NOT KNOW THAT PEOPLE ARE READING, SO IF YOU WANT MORE, REVIEW, IF YOU WANT NO MORE OF THIS FIC, THEN DON'T REVIEW.**

**Until quite possibly tomorrow, I bid you ado! Oh in the meantime check out my blog for pics relating to this story! Link is on my profile page!**


	10. Belle of the Ball

**The Lifeless girl – I know I thought it was kinda cute too! Thanks!**

**Elivira – Thanks so much! I really appreciate that! And uh-uh! There's no way I'm giving ANY hints as to what's going on with her! You'll just have to read to find out ;) and as for the whole not recognizing her part, well, they haven't seen her in 8 years almost, except for haku but he wasn't really **_**seeing **_**her, so she obviously is going to grow up a lot from her scrawny 10 year old body, not to mention her most recognizable features by them: her brown hair and brown eyes, have been taken away leaving gray eyes and white glowy streaks in her hair. So I don't think they would really recognize her.**

**PiiXXiiEE – ohhhh you've been to a ball?**

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><p>She knew she was out of place the very second she stepped out of the changing rooms that had been set up. Walking out she had to hold up her long train so that it was not stepped on by the rushing kami and yuna. Everyone was running around trying to get the last minute hair pin placed or obi tied, but when she emerged from behind the rice paper everyone went quiet. Mizu-Sen felt her face grow pale to the bone as she knew all eyes were on her. Only when she looked up did she notice the reason why; every girl in the room paled in comparison to her. They had all been granted with a simple white kimono and dark blue obi; nothing very formal, but would fit the occasion. All of their hair was tied back in traditional buns with blue chop sticks hanging from the back. Some faces stared in shock and wonder at the beautiful girl in front of them; some of the yuna who were used to being the beautiful ones practically turned green with envy. Why did she have this extravagant gown while they were dressed so plainly?<p>

One of the little girls who she had come to know as Sayuri ran towards her "Oh, Mizu-Sen you look gorgeous!"

She paled further "T-Thank you Sayuri. You look very pretty yourself." She said complimenting the little girl. The little girls wore opposite of the older ones; adorned in a dark blue kimono and white obi.

She grabbed her hand and started to pull her out of the room "Come with me, Rin has been asked to do your hair."

"O-okay." She said, in all honesty she had not expected to do anything with her hair. She was just going to leave it down in its long locks, but now she realized that would not work as her hair hang to the middle of her back where the obi train began. It would cover all the beauty of it.

Sayuri guided her into a room only about ten feet away from the madness. They walked in to find the room entirely empty except for Rin who was standing with her arms crossed expectantly. "Well it took you long enough!" she said directed at Mizu-Sen. "Thank you, Sayuri, you may go back to get ready." Sayuri bowed before leaving without another word. Only then did Rin notice what she was wearing. "Whoa Mizu-Sen where did you get _that?_" she said gesturing to her attire.

"Yubaba gave it to me to wear last night." She said trying to keep calm. She didn't understand why she had this gorgeous dress, and Rin was standing before her in the plain white kimono and blue obi.

"That old witch!" she said sourly; obviously jealous. "Well a bun just won't work with this, now I know why Yubaba gave me all these!" she said gesturing to a basket filled with freshwater pearls and blue gemstones. "All right girl sit down!" she commanded. Mizu-Sen had trouble finding a compromising sitting position without possibly tearing the fabric that clung to her. She eventually had to sit on her knees pulling the train around to her front so Rin could maneuver. Rin had quick and lithe hands, it was almost _dainty _the way she moved her fingers. The thought of this girl being dainty was definitely not the first thing that came to one's mind.

Rin worked off of the curls that were already present from not towel drying her hair. Pulling some up at different layers and back, holding them in with pins that stuck her head for only a moment. When it was obvious the styling was over she started to place the pristine freshwater pearls on the chestnut parts of her hair, and the shining deep blue gemstones on her glowing white parts. "Hold on girl, one more part." Rin reached into the basket and pulled out a crystal snowflake that looked as if the slightest movement would break it. There was no pin to place it; it just stayed in her hair by magic. "There, your hair is beautiful." Said Rin quietly, something that was completely out of character for her. "Well, go on! Look at it!" she commanded.

Mizu-Sen stood up and gasped as to what she saw in the mirror. She was in shock the girl in front of her was actually _her. _The hair was piled on top of her hair and fell down at different waves, no stray hairs at any part; Rin was too thorough for that. The freshwater pearls danced through the chestnut locks, and the deep blue gemstones glowed from the light that was emitting from the hair below them. The snowflake was placed on the right side of her head, right in front of where the curls started. It glistened with every small movement she made; the colors of the rainbow shined constantly through it, but at the same time it was still clear. "Oh yeah, I did awesome." Said Rin praising herself.

"It…It's beautiful, Rin!" she said as a smile creeped on her face.

"Of course it is! I did it." She said as if it should be obvious. Still smiling she turned to take her leave. "Hey! We're not done!" she called after her.

"What?" she turned around confused. What more was there to do?

"Makeup! You can't go without any color on that pale face of yours!" she said, going over to grab her wrist and drag her back. "Now just relax and if you move a muscle it will be the last thing you ever do." She said threateningly. Mizu-Sen saw through the charade and smiled once more before smoothing her face into a clear mask and closing her eyes. She expected that when she looked into the mirror she would have the resemblance of a geisha, pasty skin and cherry red lips. Rin moved the makeup brush (which looked more like a paintbrush) over her lips very lightly adding color to them. She could feel her outlining her eyes and draw intricate designs over her cheek bones. "Done! It needs time to dry, so if you move a muscle as it's drying, as I said before, it _will _be the last thing you ever do!" Mizu-Sen didn't want to wait, she knew it would be time to go soon and she was growing impatient. While thinking this a breeze picked up in the room and blew against her face gently. "What the…? The windows are closed!" Rin said obviously confused. The breeze continued to blow against her face and she could feel the paint slowly cake up and dry on her face. "What!" Rin cried, "Your makeup! It's dry! How?" she was flabbergasted. "Whatever, open your eyes and look." She ordered overcoming her shock.

Mizu-Sen gently opened her eyes and gasped once more at Rin's masterwork. Her face was far from the harsh beauty of a geisha. Her makeup was applied softly, accenting the right places. A light pink color was painted along her lips to bring a slight color to her face. Her eyes were lightly highlighted with a bit of charcoal; a wonderful contrast against the pale stormy gray eyes. It was beautiful without being overdone. The real beauty of the masterpiece was the swirling snowflake and wind pattern that lay on her cheekbones. Swirling blue lines to represent the winter wind encompassed gentle white snowflakes; Rin made the pattern identical on both cheeks. **(A/N pics of her hair and makeup are on my blog!) **She looked like the vision of winter. "Rin…"

"Yes, yes I know I'm a genius. Just get over here and hug me but don't smear your makeup!" she held her arms open for the girl. Mizu-Sen gladly accepted the invitation.

The words bypassed her brain and slipped through her mouth without thinking about them. "Who are you going with?" she rushed out so fast it sounded like one word.

Rin held her back at arm's length, one hand on her right shoulder. She smirked at the outburst. "I got matched up with someone I've never met. His name is Katashi, apparently he's some hotshot herbal trader." She said rolling her eyes obviously not impressed. Mizu-Sen hoped she would not return the question. Her prayers were not answered as Rin asked "What about you?"

She then found that the right moment to play with the front part of her obi. "Um, I'm going with Haku."

She let this sink in a minute, Rin's hand dropped from her shoulder. "Out of _every _single kami in the spirit world you were paired with _lizard boy_!" she demanded. Mizu-Sen gave a sheepish nod. Rin almost doubled over in laughter "This is _priceless! _Oh man I can't wait to see _this_!"

"Lizard boy?" she asked sheepishly.

"Lizard boy, pond scum, pompous jackass, take your pick. He's all those things in one." Said Rin smirking. Mizu-Sen didn't pry further, figuring she would find out one way or another someday. "Come on, your prince charming awaits." Said Rin grabbing her wrists and pulling her out the door. They walked back through the madhouse room, as Mizu-Sen had named it. The number of Yuna had depleted greatly as they had all left to meet in the great hall in preparation to leave. What yuna was left eyed her viciously as they knew she was much prettier than them.

By the time they had reached the main room all the female bath workers were there talking amongst themselves and complimenting each other on how pretty they looked; even though they looked far more than ridiculous with their geisha faces. Rin and Mizu-Sen stood in the back of the room, which Mizu-Sen was grateful for as it meant she would be less noticed.

She looked around in confusion for Haku, not finding him anywhere. "He's not here. The boys and girls travel separately as the girls dance first, a traditional fan dance to signal the opening of the ball and welcoming of the snow. The boys will then join in later." Said Rin, seeing her searching.

"Oh." She said a little disappointed. At that moment Yubaba appeared on the platform with a woman that looked identical to her.

"That's her twin sister, Zeniba." Rin whispered in her ear.

"Listen up! My sister here will use her golden seal to transport us to the island of mumei. Listen to her for directions!" she grudgingly stepped back allowing her sister to speak forth.

Zeniba looked around the room once, catching eyes with Mizu-Sen. She held her gaze for a moment with a sly smile and then turned away. "The directions are simple. Everyone holds hands in a big circle, clear your mind of all thoughts, and then we can leave" she said in a grandmotherly voice. How were those two witches related?

Rin grasped on to Mizu-Sen's hand and Mizu-Sen grasped on to little Sayuri's. There was a flash of gold and suddenly they found themselves no longer in the bathhouse.

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><p>The courtyard stretched the majority of the island leaving a very small forest on the outskirts. It wasn't a large island, but not small either. It was just large enough to hold the occupants of the spirit world with enough room to be comfortable. The ballroom was outdoors as if to welcome the elements. The floor was cobblestone with a large compass in the middle of it signaling the cardinal coordinates of: North, South, East, and West. The whole thing was encased under a large sheet of ice that shined under the moonlight.<p>

The party was almost afraid to move on the ice, but it proved stable and some spells must have been cast to make it to where they didn't slip. The girls arrived in perfect formation for the dance holding fans. Mizu-Sen didn't know where her fan had come from, but assumed it was part of the whole dance. A second before the music had started proved enough time to take in her surroundings. She was standing in the very middle of the concealed compass, the kami and Yuna surrounded her in five layers of circles, all facing towards her. They all held dark blue lace fans to their faces, shielding themselves. Mizu-Sen held a fan that was woven from literal snowflakes, the whole thing radiated with power.

A bell chimed and everyone on the outside circles held their fans to the right and spun once clockwise. Something had taken over her muscles and Mizu-Sen realized she had no control over herself. Involuntarily she held her fan to the left and brought it in an arch over her head. Another bell chimed. The outside circles held the fans to the left and did a little side skip to the left before raising their fans upward. Mizu-Sen arched the fan back over her head the other direction. The kami then found a partner to their right and placed their palms flat to each other, holding the fans outwards in their opposite arms. They circled around each other slowly flicking their fan hands. The dance was silent as the falling snow should be; only little bells signaled the next move. Mizu-Sen then held two fans, one in each hand, both woven out of snowflakes. A lighter sounding bell signaled the near end of the strange dance. All the girls in the outside circles knelt on one knee; one arm was placed behind their back with their fans pointed to the girl in the middle of the circle. Without console to her body Mizu-Sen raised both arms out to her sides to bring them crossing into her chest.

The words forced themselves out of her mouth, with a voice seemingly not her own

"_On this the solstice,_

_the longest day of night,_

_let the snow fall from the heavens under the moonlight!"_

She proclaimed with grandeur. It sounded like an incantation. Her hair began to radiate brighter as did the fans; she uncrossed her arms and threw the fans high into the heavens. With a blinding light the fans burst and endless snow began to fall.

The fans of the other kami disappeared, and everyone stood up in silence. The males appeared out of thin air, making Mizu-Sen slightly jump as Haku appeared out of thin air next to her. His hair was in its usual style, but he was wearing a very formal white kosode with blue dragons weaved into the fabric. He wrapped his arm involuntarily around her waist, as did all the other male population there. Mizu-Sen did not mind in the slightest though. She looked around and saw Rin looking slightly disgusted with the arm of an attractive man wrapped around her. The man was a head taller than her with short cropped black hair and sea blue eyes. There was no denying the man was not attractive; she didn't understand Rin's resilience. But then again, it _was _Rin.

A stage appeared out of nowhere with a man wearing green robes and had dark brown hair. The males dropped down to one knee as the females placed their hands together and gave a formal bow. "Rise." The man said with kindness in his voice and a smile on his face, his arms raised. Everyone did as he said. "Thank you all for attending the eighth annual solstice ball! I'd like to welcome each and every one of you for bringing the snow to the ball tonight! Now, before we continue with the festivities, let us eat!" he said, and on his word round tables appeared out of nowhere. White table clothes adorned the top and the chairs were made out of crystal. Name cards were placed so that everyone had a place to sit. Of course the partners sat together. The table where she was to sit appeared right in front of her, Haku held her chair back for her as she gathered the long train in her arms before sitting. No sooner than they had sat down were they accompanied by Rin and Katashi who were to be their dining partners. Yubaba and Zeniba accompanied the man who announced the dinner at a long banquet table on the stage. Other important spirits sat further down.

"That is our Lord, husband of Lady Ka-Tsuchi." Said Haku taking a drink from the fancy glass. She nodded. A clear substance was in it, Mizu-Sen assuming it was water took a large drink from it. The icy sensation that filled her throat afterwards disconfirmed her suspicions of water.

"What is this?" she asked.

"A rare spirit of the northern ice plains. It is a mixture of a small amount of alcohol and melted snow. It is said to taste differently to every person according to their tastes." he said.

"What does it taste like to you?" she asked curious.

He turned his head to look at her, a small smile on his face. "It tastes like the water of my river."

"A river spirit?" she asked. She knew his element was water, but she didn't know he was the actual spirit of a river.

"I once was. They filled in my river in the human world and placed these atrocious houses on top of it." He replied solemnly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know." Her cheeks paled.

He genuinely laughed; the first genuine laugh anyone had ever heard him laugh. Rin's mouth dropped in shock. "Don't be, I assure you it's fine." He said with a smile. "And you? What does it taste like to you?"

She took another sip to confirm. "Rain. It tastes of rain water and ice mixed together, with something a little sweet." He nodded.

Shadow spirits started to come around and serve the meal, a bowl of rice and dumplings. A pig per table was served optional. Rin and Katashi picked greedily at the pork and Haku took little bites of it. Mizu-Sen shied away from it, wanting nothing to do with eating the pig. She stuck to her dumplings and rice.

"Have some pig Mizu-Sen! It's there for you to eat not stare at." Rin commanded.

"I-I don't want to eat any." She didn't know why she didn't want to eat it; she was just naturally disgusted by the idea of eating a pig.

"Oh come on." She insisted.

"Rin, I don't think I eat animals." She said a little confused.

"Whatever." Rin said rolling her eyes taking another bite of pig. Haku put his plate of the pork aside and began determinedly eating his rice and dumplings.

Dinner talk was light and airy, keeping up small conversations just to not seem rude. You could cut the tension with a knife. It was easy to tell something had been bothering Rin for a long time as she seemingly stared down Haku. Finally she could take it no longer "Haku when are you going to compliment me on my masterpiece?" she demanded.

"Excuse me?" he said after taking a small sip out of the glass. Rin said nothing but merely stood up and pointed to Mizu-Sen. She was the only one standing and was drawing attention. She cared little, the girl had no shame. Mizu-Sen however turned icily pale for almost the twentieth time that day. Following her pointed finger to the girl he appraised her up and down from what he could see in the chair.

"She looks lovely," he said more to Mizu-Sen than to Rin. "Then gems and snowflakes go with her perfectly. I cannot imagine anything lovelier right now." At that Mizu-Sen snapped her head up to look at Haku. Fires raged deep and slow in his emerald eyes. He forced his head away and took a _very _long drag of his drink; draining it to the last drop. "Why don't we dance?" he asked.

She looked around at everyone still eating. Lively music was playing but there were no dancers; everyone would know when the time to dance came. "But, no one else is dancing." She queried.

"Yes?" he cocked an eyebrow. She knew there was no wiggling her way out of this, one way or another all eyes would be on her: the glowing girl. Seeing her resolve he stood up and offered her his hand. She hesitantly reached hers forward to grab his. Once hand in hand he was dragging her to the dance floor. Standing in the middle of the compass once more where there were no tables.

He placed his hand lightly on her waist and took her hand in his. She placed her free hand on his shoulder and he began to lead. "Your dress is exquisite. Something like that would be worthy of Lady Ka-Tsuchi herself." He said spinning them around. They moved around the outskirts of the compass spinning themselves in the process. She was more than aware that every eye of the entire spirit world was placated on them; the only eyes she noticed were deep and emerald. The only eyes he felt concerned enough to care about were deep and stormy gray. Aware of the outside; they were lost in their own little world.

"Where is Lady Ka-Tsuchi?" she asked after he dipped her.

"Asleep." He replied simply. Of course she knew that, now she felt stupid and wanted to slap herself. They said no more as they continued their strange dance. He lifted her on several occasions and dipped her; the moves coming naturally and in perfect synchronization with the music. Under the moonlight Mizu-Sen was quite a vision. Everything white on her seemed to radiate aside from her hair which was the brightest and most pristine thing anyone in the audience had ever seen. Her dress reflected moonlight as if it had been bathed in it and her eyes began to shine.

All too soon the dance was over; Haku dropped his arms and stepped away and bowed. She smiled and nodded; curtseying was near impossible with the way the fabric clung to her.

The audience was too enchanted to do a thing. A clap echoed from the head table and they turned to see their lord applauding them. "Thank you for that wonderful demonstration! What you just observed was the first dance of the night. Every year magic chooses one pair to do a lead dance signaling the beginning of the ball. You two have just had the honor." He said gesturing to the two of them. "What are your names?"

"Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi, my Lord." Haku replied bowing.

"Yes, I know you Nigihayami. I have never met the flower that stands before me now however, who are you?"

"I do not know my real name, but the name I was bestowed once I came here was Mizu-Sen, my lord." She said bowing.

"You have hair like my wife's." he said "very interesting. I look forward to getting to know you Mizu-Sen." He then turned to the rest of the spirits "Normally this would be my wife and your Lady Ka-Tsuchi's honor, but seeing as she is going through her yearly sleep I will announce this. So with this: dance!" He proclaimed. The tables and food disappeared leaving the ice on the floor. Everyone rose with their partners and assumed a position with the ladies back to the male.

The dance that they began was a very sensual dance involving slow strokes and movements. There was a lot of touching, but none of it inappropriate or awkward. It was intimate without overbearing; a beautiful dance. The dance was supposed to represent the icicles hanging from the trees in the forest, attached without really being a part of it. With this each partner had individual moves but were still one in the dance.

The dance ended with the partner's face merely an inch away from one another; many others found this an acceptable time to kiss their partner without shame. Mizu-Sen thought she was going to faint with Haku's face that close. She could feel his breaths on her face, warm and soft like him. He smelled intoxicatingly of honey and spring water. She knew she could lost herself in that scent forever. In that moment she could no longer help but kissing him than a bird could help to fly. She leaned her head forward and closed her eyes expecting to close the gap between them. Before he let that happen he immediately drew his face back. She opened her eyes seemingly disappointed to see a hunger within Haku's eyes. She had seen fire in his eyes before, but they were tepid compared to the blaze that rang clear now.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, not breaking his gaze.

He spoke just as gently, his voice echoing the softness of the falling snow. "Don't be, it is I who am sorry. I need to leave for a moment." He let go of her and walked towards the woods to the east of the massive ballroom floor. She stood in shock for a moment. How could she be so _stupid_? She wanted to slap herself, and cry. But she held her position of dignity.

Her mind made up she followed after him, ignoring the stares she got from the other kami and yuna. She walked with purpose, her posture perfect. Once concealed in the sanctuary of the canopy of the ice coated trees above she lost her important and crumbled back to Mizu-Sen. It didn't take long to find a greenish-blue hair color in an all-white forest. He was sitting with his back to her on a tree stump, holding his head in his hands. She walked forward lightly and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder; causing his head to quickly snap up in surprise.

"Don't talk." She ordered; unwilling to meet his gaze. "I was stupid for trying to attempt that, I guess I was just caught up in the moment and I just like being around you so much i-i-I don't know what came over me. I promise never to try something like that again." She said on the verge of tears which she wouldn't allow to flow over; Rin would kill her if she messed up her makeup.

He stood up and grabbed her face, careful to avoid the painted snowflakes on her cheeks; forcing her to look at him. His eyes were bloodshot with tears. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this. I am just as much to blame for this. You tempt me Mizu-Sen, I will not deny this. I have only known you properly for a day, but that is seemingly not mattering to me. I would have kissed you if it were not for…" he paused closing his eyes. "someone else." She mentally slapped herself, of course there would be another girl waiting on him, he was too good to be true. "I have loved before, deeply. She was a small girl the last time we met, and we haven't seen each other since we were very small. But I know I love her, it has grown and flourished over the years. Then, about three months ago she…died." He sobbed quietly for a moment. "I thought I would never love again, but I recently found out there's a possibility that she could quite possibly be alive! She's my true love, I'm sure of it. If things were different Mizu-Sen, then maybe…but I _have _to find her if she's still alive." She nodded feeling her heart crumble.

"You are a good man, Haku. If there's anything I can do to help you find her I will!" she proclaimed.

"Thank you, Mizu-Sen." He said reaching forward to stroke her face, stopping himself halfway. "This should not be happening." He groaned. She gave him a look of confusion. "I am a dragon Mizu-Sen. A dragon is supposed to have one love for eternity that they love and cherish. One heart to bind to their mates forever. A dragon knows when they meet that person, it's rather obvious. But this, I am falling for you too Mizu-Sen and I have to stay true to…" he paused not saying her name.

"To who?" she coaxed. She was in shock of his confession for her, but didn't dwell, she knew it would only hurt more later

"I cannot say her name at the moment, it hurts too much." He said. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I am sorry I cannot be more than a friend to you at the moment, please forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive." She assured him "I will be content with being friends." She lied.

"Come, our absence will be noted soon; seeing as you are the Belle of the Ball."

"I am not." She insisted, her face pouting. He found it endearing as she did that but restrained himself.

"Do you not see how every girl is staring at you, practically green with envy? You are clearly the most beautiful person here." He smiled.

She paled, half knowing it was true. He grabbed her hand and escorted her back to the dance floor; her hair shining more vividly under the moonlight.

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><p><strong>Now how's THAT for a chapter! God Haku how thick headed can you <strong>_**be**_**! He's seriously being dumb right now…**

**So you guys asked for it, and here it is! Over 5 thousand words and 9 pages in Microsoft word is my gift to you, I'm going back to the hell where they drain all creativity and waste all my time (aka school) tomorrow from my break, so updates won't come as often, maybe only twice or three times a week, but I will update weekly at the very least!**

**Pictures of Mizu-Sen's hair and makeup on my blog, link is on my profile page!**

**I've also received a lot of questions regarding "Chihiro's monthly monster" asking when I will update. It was intended as a one-shot, meaning it's complete as it is. Maybe after I finish this story and find inspiration I will write one more chapter of it, but as for now it's complete as is. Thanks!**

**In the meantime please review! The more reviews I get the faster the story gets updated :)**


	11. Swept Away

**Chesinshi- Thank you! I try hard to stick close to the characters personalities!**

**Miko Potter – AH I KNOW! He's so dumb!**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – Totally understandable! Headaches kill us all! Thank you so much! Anything you write I'll read!**

**The Lifeless girl – Thanks! Haha just have to wait and see ;)**

**Trinion – Thanks! I try to update regularly, it's a bit of an addiction by now ;)**

**Elivira – here ya go!**

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><p>Mizu-Sen sat on the balcony in the upper floor of the workers' rooms. All former grandeur of the belle of the ball had long since disappeared upon arrival of the bathhouse. The geisha faces had been wiped clean and regular clothes were returned. Mizu-Sen assumed Yubaba had taken her treasures back as she glanced in the mirror to find the pearls, gemstones, and delicate snowflake had disappeared along with the delicate kimono. Her hair was still in the style Rin had done, but that had been quickly taken care of with a few strokes of a brush.<p>

The males had not returned with them, it was considered a sign of bad luck for the partners to see each other within twenty-four hours of the ball; which was just fine by Mizu-Sen. The last thing she wanted at that moment was to see him. She needed time to think about everything.

She dangled her legs through the wooden bars and rested her arms on the railing. Burying her face in her hands she sighed loudly drawing the attention of Rin; who was back in her work clothes. She walked over to Mizu-Sen and plopped down behind her; getting in a relaxed position of resting on her side and supporting her head with a crooked arm.

After a moment of silence Rin spoke up "You know your hair still freaks me out right?"

Mizu-Sen smirked slightly, not turning around to see the older woman. "Yeah, I know." She replied simply. It was still snowing from the ball.

"Hey, where'd you and Haku disappear to at the ball tonight?" Rin asked.

"Um. It's kind of personal Rin, no offence." She muttered, wanting to avoid this conversation at all costs.

"You didn't, you know, _do_ anything did you?" she queried.

"No!" she cried snapping back to Rin.

Rin chuckled in reply. "Sorry." She mumbled, there was a moment more of silence. "You know, I would never ever stick up for the lizard, but…be careful with him okay?" her voice turned uncharacteristically soft "He lost someone…really important to him, and I don't think he'll ever get over her fully." She sighed "I know you have feelings for him, it's obvious." Mizu-Sen's face paled, was she that easy to read? "He may harbor some feelings for you, but…I don't want you to get hurt…if he does try to show an interest for you...listen don't take this the wrong way, but, he may just use you as a rebound to get over her. He may use you to distract himself from her."

Mizu-Sen nodded, it was nothing she didn't already know. "Thanks, Rin." The tension held thick in the atmosphere. In a desperate attempt to lighten the mood she spit out "How was Katashi?"

Rin's eyes widened a moment before she gave a guttural snort. "Out of everything you could have said, you asked about me and Katashi?" Mizu-Sen turned around; a gleam appeared in her gray eyes as she gave a curt nod. "Well, he was very handsome! A perfect gentleman, he never touched me without my permission, complimented me all night, and didn't even attempt to kiss me after the dance you and Haku disappeared from. He was respectful; he never spoke unless I asked him something. He addressed me as Miss Rin" she rolled her eyes "and kissed my hand goodnight." She finished.

"Oh, Rin! It sounds like you may have found someone who knows how to take care of you, maybe even make you his wife!" Mizu-Sen cried in elation.

"Are you kidding me? I never want to see him again!" she said hotly, taking a bite of a dumpling that she managed to summon out of thin air.

"What?" Mizu-Sen said in confusion; the area between her eyebrows wrinkling as they came together.

"I need a _man_. Someone who isn't afraid to touch me or talk to me; someone who isn't afraid to kiss me!"

It was at that moment Mizu-Sen was sure Rin would never find love. She said nothing as Rin continued to munch on her dumpling.

The snow continued to fall softly, pouring out of the cloudless sky. She held her hand out to touch it and a single snowflake began to circle around her fingers. She didn't think twice before smiling gently and began to play with it. Weaving it in between her digits and making it do little twirls for her. She thought nothing unusual of it; it was only natural.

"Whoa! Since when can you do that?" Rin demanded seeing what she was doing.

Mizu-Sen frowned a moment, she didn't think she had done anything wrong. "What?"

"You can control snow?" she asked incredulous.

She pondered for a split second. "Yeah, I guess I can."

"What kind of spirit are you? You're no animal I can tell you that right now! No wonder you stick out like a sore thumb in the bathhouse!"

"Animal?" she said, allowing the snowflake to drift away.

"Every worker here is some sort of animal. The yuna? They're slugs; I'm surprised I had to tell you _that_. They look enough like it." she said laughing.

"What are you?" she asked.

"A weasel." She stated blankly "that's the only thing I can remember about my life before the bathhouse."

Mizu-Sen smiled. She certainly had the attitude of a weasel: unafraid to bite. They sat in comfortable silence for a little while; staring at the flurries. As the sun began to rise Rin slowly got up to rest. "Just come in when you're ready, okay?" she said yawning.

"K" Mizu-Sen agreed.

She sat there a moment longer, relishing in the presence of the snow that attracted to her like a magnet. The flakes weaved their way through her hair and eyelashes seemingly uncaring of her body heat. She smiled content.

Feeling her eyelids droop she drew her legs back in through the railing. Rising to full height she breathed in one more breath of the winter crisp air before turning_. "No, stay."_ A breeze whispered in her ear. She turned around as the wind picked up speed, causing her hair to fly back.

"Who's there?" she called. No response. She must have just been imagining things. Shaking her head she turned back around.

Suddenly a huge gust of wind forced her off the balcony and into the clutches of the open air. She let out a bloodcurdling scream of fear, feeling air all around her. She opened her eyes to find that she was not falling; the wind was encompassing her holding her aloft in midair.

She turned to see her captors; gray puffs of smoke with white eyes and no pupils. There was nothing humanoid about these creatures. They held no shape and seemed to fade in and out of existence.

_"Sheee eezzz heeerrreee."_ A voice as quiet as a whisper echoed through the air. Other whispers seemed to rejoice. There was a childlike essence about these spirits that left her feeling maternal; like she needed to guide these entities.

"Please, let me be." She asked in a soft tone. They all hissed in protest.

"Mizu-Sen!" a voice above her shouted. She turned to see Haku standing on a balcony a few stories above her; wearing only his trousers.

"I'm okay!" she called reassuringly; she knew these beings would not harm her.

"Listen to me, you need to concentrate." He called, his voice remaining calm. She knew that as long he was shirtless before her she would have her focus occupied on anything but the entities swirling around her. She marveled at the perfectly sculpted planes of his torso. "I'm going to fly down there and scare them away in my dragon form. Are you listening?" he snapped, breaking her out of her trance. "Okay, when I come down there I want you to close your eyes and concentrate on the snow. _Nothing but the snow do you hear me?_" he commanded. She nodded.

She saw a flash of white and teal before snapping her eyes shut and let visions of snow fill her mind. Swirling little flakes that would grace her presence by weaving their way around her. All felt right. She smiled before she heard a ferocious growl uncomfortably close to her left ear. Confused she attempted to open her eyes, but something would not allow her. Snow. She had to concentrate on the snow.

"Mizu-Sen, open your eyes." A soft voice coaxed. She did as was commanded and stared into pools of emerald green. She gasped as she realized he was flying in midair, and even more shocking so was she. Looking down she noticed the snow supporting her. Little pallets had formed beneath her feat, solidifying for support. He grasped her hand in his. "Take a step forward, trust in the snow." She took a deep breath and raised her right foot. As she did the small pallet dissolved. She lost her balance and slightly wobbled before setting her foot down a little higher. The snow formed another firm pallet underneath her. She realized that there was no possible way she would fall. She beamed at this realization and a goofy grin made its way from ear to ear across her face.

"See, trust in the snow. It will guide you." He led the way and she merely followed. He floated; she walked on the shifting snow. "Yubaba has asked to see you. I am taking you to her office." He stated. She groaned, Yubaba's office was the last place she wanted to be at that moment.

They reached the highest floor of the bathhouse before stopping. He escorted her into the extravagantly decorated room that was attached to the balcony. "This is where I have to leave. I'll see you later." He said before hopping back over the balcony.

She tuned to face Yubaba who was sitting at her desk. After an awkward moment's pause Yubaba spoke. "Mizu-Sen do you know what those were?" Mizu-Sen shook her head "Those were the spirits of the winter wind. They like to play games. It's supposed to be innocent fun, but some turn into deadly games."

"But ma'am, I knew they wouldn't hurt me."

Yubaba narrowed her eyes. "You did not know that." She pressed. Mizu-Sen bit her lip staying quiet. She knew the truth that the spirits would not have hurt her. They just wanted to share everything with her, so they took her. "Once they seek a target they keep their hearts set on it. I assume they will pass in a week. But while they are here it is not safe for you." She said, then quickly added "or my customers." She would hate to think anyone thought of her as doing something _kind._ "It would be a great disturbance having them race through the baths trying to find you. It would make a horrible mess. Since you are under contract I cannot fire you, so the only choice I have is to send you to my sister Zeniba's for the remainder of their stay." She said. She handed her a slip of paper. "This is a train ticket to take you to her, you will leave _immediately_. Go to the strain station and wait for it to pull up. Leave on the sixth stop, a place called Swamp Bottom." She instructed. "Leave now!" the witch commanded, sending the girl flying out the window and through the air.

She landed a good distance away from the bathhouse on a small stone platform. She was alone.

_I didn't even get to say goodbye to Haku_. She thought sourly. A week surely couldn't be that long could it?

Without having time to think about this a train rolled up and opened the door. A shadow figure stood in the doorway and held his hand out for the ticket which she gave to him. She stepped into the train and sat down on a comfortable red seat; staring at the passing landscape.

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><p><strong>Hmmm some quality time with our favorite witch twin Zeniba;) wonder how that's gonna turn out.<strong>

**Shout-out to my awesome new beta-reader AuthorSwimmerPoet for doing an awesome job in correcting some mistakes in this chapter!**

**Until next next time review!**


	12. Tea With a Witch

**Yukio Nakama – Haha thanks! Don't we all love a shirtless Haku ;) **

**Elivira – Thanks so much! I think my writing's grown a lot over this story, and the last chapters freeness of grammatical errors are to thank to my awesome beta AuthorSwimmerPoet**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – Thanks! I'm not sure how many more words this will have, maybe around 40,000. It all depends on what you want to happen in your story that determines the length. I'd like to read what you've wrote!**

**The Lifeless girl – Thanks! I try to be creative with my chapters. This chapter came later than usual though :/**

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**ReadingLover17 – Thank you!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

**Tea With a Witch**

"_**Beauty, like ice, our footing does betray; Who can tread sure on the smooth, slippery way: Pleased with the surface, we glide swiftly on, And see the dangers that we cannot shun."**_

**John Dryden**

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><p>Mizu-Sen felt a tug in the back of her memories as a lantern on a pole hobbled towards her. Something told her to bow, so she did. The lantern bowed back to her surprise; another tug in her mind.<p>

"Can you take me to Zeniba?" she asked hesitantly. She wasn't sure if the lantern would understand her or not, but something told her that it would somehow understand. As way of an answer the lantern turned around and started hobbling into the dark woods. She stumbled a few times over loose roots trying to keep up; the lantern was faster than she had expected. It paused and waited every few yards for her to rejoin it. This cycle continued for a while; unsure of how much time had passed they finally reached a gateway that led to a homey looking cottage. "We're here?" she asked. The lantern dipped slightly as way of nodding yes, she followed with a thank you and walked towards the welcoming door.

She knocked slightly. "Come in." called a grandmotherly voice. Needing no further persuasion she opened the door and was greeted by the lovely smell of tea and the crackling of a hearth. The clacking of knitting needles filled the room. She turned around to see the source; a black transparent figure with a mask on its face. Another tug pulled in the back of her mind_. 'Two tugs in one night'_, she thought, _'have I been here before?'_. She knew this place was somehow related to her past, but how, she didn't know. Hopefully this would be a sanctuary of answers. She scanned the cabin once more to find an old lady with her back turned towards her. Adorned in a blue dress and a slight amount of jewels she felt another tug. It looked like Yubaba, but Mizu-Sen knew differently. There was a different presence about this woman; grandmotherly and trusting.

"You're Zeniba?"

The old woman turned around from the stove where she was tending to the tea to scan the girl over. Zeniba gave a gentle smile; one more loving and filled with warmth than Yubaba could ever have managed. "Yes. But there will be no formalities here dearie. I want you to call me Granny." Another tug.

"Thank you, Granny. I know this is so sudden, I hope you were aware that I was coming and that your sister didn't just send me over without asking you, because I know that would make me look very rude and…" she babbled. For some reason she just felt like she could say anything to this woman and it would be all right. Zeniba cut her off with a gentle raise of her hand.

"Hush, child. I assure you everything has been taken care of. I knew you would be here sooner or later. Not many who were once here can stay away from old Granny's house." Zeniba smiled.

Her suspicions confirmed she piped up "W-what? I've been here before?"

A mischievous glint entered the woman's eyes "Oh yes, everyone does at one point. Many travelers stop by for a nice conversation with one of the ever famous witch twins."

"When have I been here? Can you please tell me? I don't remember a thing of my past!" she cried with despair.

The witch walked over to Mizu-Sen and eyed her with a timid pity. "In due time everything will make sense. But for right now your memories are lost for a reason. Fate has a firm grasp on you dearie; trust in it and everything will fall into place."

Mizu-Sen sighed in frustration. She felt she could scream, but a tantrum would not be the correct way to handle the situation. She could tell Granny wanted to help her; but couldn't. "You've matured so much. Yes, time has been kind to you. But, I guess that all comes with the territory doesn't it?" she said the last part to herself, and chuckled quietly.

"What do you mean? Can't you give me _some_ sort of clue?" She said as calm as she could. A mischievous glint entered the witch's eyes and gave a slow shake of _'no'._

"As I said: In due time everything should make sense. Now, will you please join an old witch with a cup of tea?" She finished with a smile. Mizu-Sen smiled gently at this. A cup of tea was probably what she needed most at that moment. A warm concoction of nothing but sweet liquid would sooth her frazzled nerves at that moment.

"Thank you, Granny."

The woman poured their cups and set them at the table before setting herself down in a chair. "Please, sit." She said gesturing to the chair opposite of her. Mizu-Sen gratefully accepted the invitation and took her place, beginning to sip on the delicious tea. "Hmm, gray eyes too. I didn't expect that part, but I guess it makes sense." Zeniba piped up. She was speaking in riddles once more. All the answers were laid out in clarity in front of her; she just couldn't fit them together. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't speak like that. I understand it's frustrating for you too. I, like my sister, already know everything about you my dear."

"But you won't tell me will you?" Mizu-Sen replied with a frown.

Zeniba gently lowered her tea from her large mouth and set it down on the table. "I'm sorry. I would tell you if I could. But that is not my place to tell you, if I did before you were ready why I would without a doubt get the tongue lashing of a millennia."

"From who?" Mizu-Sen queried lightly. Trying to show no interest in the subject, if she did the witch may accidentally have a slip up and tell something she wasn't supposed to.

But the witch was clever in her ways. "Good try dearie, but I cannot tell you that either."

Mizu-Sen merely sighed.

"So tell me, what is your new name? I'm sure my sister must have come up with something." Zeniba asked.

Mizu-Sen was taken aback at the plainness of the question. It was light after the conversation they just had. "Umm, it's Mizu-Sen."

The witch gave a guttural laugh, tossing her head back as she did. "Of course my sister would. It's just like her to." She riddled.

"You know my true name don't you?" Mizu-Sen said.

"You have many. I know them all." Zeniba said. Mizu-Sen nodded, knowing fully she would get no more out of the witch. A few moments' silence passed as they sipped their tea. "Oh! You still have your hair band!" the witch cried in elation.

"W-what? You mean this old thing?" she said freeing her white and brown locks of the purple hair tie she had been using.

"Of course! I made it, along with a few other friends. One which happens to be right there." Said Zeniba, gesturing to the strange being with knitting needles.

"I-I think I know him. He seems familiar, but I don't know him." She sighed.

"Perfectly all right. His name is No-Face, he is your friend."

Mizu-Sen glanced back at him apprehensively "He's not evil is he?"

Granny chuckled. "He can be if those around him are. He is a lost soul who feeds on the emotions of those around him. If he is surrounded by greed, he becomes greedy. But when he came here, he changed into a kind soul, helping old Granny with what she needs."

"_Uh uh."_ No-Face replied nodding, he then returned to his knitting.

They sat in silence a few moments' more. "So, how are you and Haku?" Zeniba asked airily, as if she were discussing the weather. This made Mizu-Sen gag on her tea.

"E-Excuse me?" she asked breathlessly, still recovering.

The witch chuckled. "I may be old but I'm not clueless. You two stood out like a sore thumb at the solstice ball. It's not hard to see love dearie." She said, a glint entering her eyes. It was all Mizu-Sen could do to sit there, her mouth agape.

"Umm…" she said suddenly looking down, unwilling to meet the wise woman's gaze. "There's nothing really going on."

"But you want there to be don't you?" the witch queried. Mizu-Sen felt her face pale and gave a short curt nod.

"There's…someone else Haku's waiting for." She whispered. "A girl he…lost."

Zeniba was quiet a moment. "Humph. How closed minded can you get?"

"What do you mean?" Mizu-Sen asked.

But it was easy to tell Zeniba was no longer paying attention to the younger girl anymore. "He's has been around over a millennia, served my sister, holds more wisdom than half the spirits in this world, and yet he is too closed minded to see what's _right in front of him_." She harrumphed and looked back to the confused looking young girl. "Don't fret about it dear." She said reaching across the table and patting the girl's hand lightly.

More confused than ever she reached down to drink her tea once more only to find that the liquid had frozen over. "Ah!" she cried in surprise.

"What is it dearie?" Granny asked.

"My tea…it's…ice." She said, not taking her eyes away from the cup.

The witch chuckled "Oh yes, as I thought." She then sighed "It's all happening." She seemed to be thinking of something else entirely at that moment "Don't fret, all is well. You just need to learn how to control your new found magic. I can train you during your stay here if you would like. "

"Oh, would you?" she asked pleading.

"Of course! It's quite obvious you need some help. But before we start I'm sure you're tired." Mizu-Sen nodded, it had been nearly twenty four hours since she had last slept. With a flick of her hand the cups were emptied of their tea, or ice in Mizu-Sen's case, and placed back in the cabinet without effort on either of their parts. "Your room is in the hall, the first room on your left. If you need anything let me know." Mizu-Sen rose from her chair and hugged Granny gratefully before taking her leave.

Following the witch's instructions she found herself in a small bedroom with wooden walls and floors. A fire crackled lively in a brick opening in the wall. A double sized bed filled most of the room with home sewn quilts piled high. A linen night gown was folded and laid on a rocking chair concealed in the corner. She gratefully exchanged her salmon work clothes for the soft fabric. It was loose yet fitting. She smiled at how comfortable it was as she slid in the large bed. She couldn't imagine being more comfortable with the window opened to let the falling snow in. Cuddled under the soft quilts she reached out to the empty part of the bed resting her hand on the opposite pillow. She realized that only one thing could make this complete.

Only if a certain pale skinned green eyed man was beside her would this scene be perfect. She frowned to herself knowing that would never happen as she let sleep pull her under for a dreamless night.

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><p>Haku walked purposefully towards the top of the bathhouse. Mizu-Sen had been missing for hours and he feared Yubaba may have done something drastic. Caring little about respect or honor or all the things a river god should have, he barged through the doors of Yubaba's office.<p>

"Where is she?" he demanded.

Yubaba didn't even glance at him from the papers she was signing. "Where's who?"

"Mizu-Sen. Where is she?" he demanded once more.

"At my sister's." She replied simply.

Haku took a deep breath to steady himself. "Why would that be?"

"I couldn't have her stay here while the northern winds are among us. They have taken to her and would not leave her alone unless I sent her away. It would be bad for business." She said, still scrawling on random documents.

"You could have sent me with her." he said.

The witch looked up and gave a grim smile. "I could have, but I think some quality time with my sister dearest is what she needs."

"I could help her too." He insisted.

"Why are you so concerned about her Haku? Last time I noticed you were taken with Chihiro, hmm?" she slyly said.

His breath hitched. "That's none of your business."

"Oh but I think it is if you are to get the information out of me you've been asking for."

He flushed with chagrin, his temper rising. "I honestly don't know what's going on. I don't understand it, but things are confusing enough without you trying to toy with me."

The witch chuckled. "You've obviously never heard the lullaby of the Yuki-Onna have you?"

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><p><strong>So, I know it's been a few days since I've last updated and I'm really sorry for that! I had half this chapter written out, and planned to continue it the next day. But you know what, life just seriously sucks sometimes. I like to think that when life gives you lemons make lemonade. But there really just isn't much you can do when you're hit with pneumonia. <strong>

**So, guess what, I made fucking chocolate milk out of that lemon *let the world figure **_**that **_**one out!* and got this little snippet of a chapter out to you guys! **

**Might not update for a few days as I'm getting better, but I promise as soon as I feel good enough I will get the next chappie out!**

**Also a huge thanks to my beta AuthorSwimmerPoet for getting this back to me in record time! Wow seriously, I sent it out and got it back within an hour! You seriously rock!**

**I've decided to add little quotes at the beginning of each chapter to go along with it. Just something a little new :)**

**As always reviews area appreciated. **


	13. Wind and Water

**Silver Sea Mist- thanks I'm liking the idea of quotes at the beginnings of chapters too, thanks!**

**PiiXXiiEE – haha! I DEFINITELY know what you mean about overprotective moms. Yeah from what I've done in my research she's pretty famous. I imagine she's obviously very pretty, but I guess the situation with hair differs in some situations. Like I picture **_**the **_**yuki-onna of ancient mythology with black hair, but in other stuff I picture her with white. I'd love to see it! I wish I could draw lol.**

**Elivira – Hmm just have to wait and see ;)**

**Trinion – thank you! I'm really trying to take my time with this story, I'm just having too much fun with it! Btw I just love saying your name for some reason, lol it's a really fun thing to say. Yeah I know that's totally random but just thought I'd mention it XD**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – thanks for the recovery wishes! It's definitely not something fun to have. Haha Thank you! Haha that's completely understandable, I'm not the biggest grammar fan but I still ilke it. Yeah I could have my Czech friend translate, she lives right next door lol.**

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><p><em><strong>There is magic, but you have to be the magician. You have to make the magic happen.<strong>_

**SIDNEY SHELDON**

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><p>"Concentrate." Instructed the old witch.<p>

Mizu-Sen took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Turn water into ice, how hard can that be? She asked herself. She had done it on a few occasions before that she could remember, but never out of pure will. It had always been spontaneous and she had never understood how she did it. Now that she was asked to do it consciously…it became a whole different situation. She imagined the crystalline glass before her becoming chilled, frost seeping its way from bottom up. Ice slowly crusting up over the sweat of the glass and gently seeping its way into the water it held. She tried to let her senses take over then, feeling the water without touching it. Trying to control it and bend it to her whim. She could sense every particle that was held in the water, how it stirred gently and the temperature was slowly beginning to drop. She could feel the ice begin to glaze over the liquid, turning it solid.

She opened her eyes to find that she had succeeded. The water inside the glass was now a clear form of ice. The droplets that had begun to sweat on the outside of the glass had now formed into small orbs of ice; making them look like small diamonds. She cried out in elation at the fact she had been able to do it. At that the glass exploded into a million small pieces. With the imminent threat of glass lodging itself into her body her survival instincts kicked in causing her to duck under the table with speed that could have bested a dragon. Zeniba didn't even flinch at the sudden outburst; she merely raised her hand to stop the flying glass an inch away from her face. It froze in midair, ice and glass undistinguishable from one another. Mizu-Sen still cowering under the table waited there determinedly until all threats were gone. Zeniba flicked her wrist and the particles flew back together, assembling themselves in the form of the crystalline glass; the ice melted back into water. Mizu-Sen hesitantly poked her head from underneath the table; deciding the coast was clear she took her seat once more. This was the seventh time in a row this had happened and she seemed to be showing no improvement.

"Good try. You need to keep your emotions under control; they are the base of your magic. You need a clear mind to be able to perform to your fullest potential." The witch said kindly.

Mizu-Sen let out a frustrated sigh "I'm beginning to think I don't have much potential, I can't even perform the most basic magic!"

"Oh hush." Zeniba commanded. "You have more power than you are aware of. You just need to learn how to control your emotions. When you saw that you have succeeded in a task that you didn't think possible; you grew overly excited and that pushed your magic further. Come, once more. Clear your mind of all thought and concentrate."

Mizu-Sen sighed once more. "Granny, I really don't feel like exploding anymore glasses today. Can we please just try something different for a small break from this? We'll come back to it later, but I don't think I can take much more of this right now."

"Of course. We will move on to your secondary element. Come with me." Zeniba said.

Mizu-Sen was confused but followed Granny's orders. They walked outside the cabin; Zeniba grabbing a thick coat on her way out and wrapping it around her large body. Not offering the lesser girl a coat; she knew she would not be cold. They stopped a few yards outside the open door before Zeniba turned to face Mizu-Sen. "Now, we will begin you training with air."

"Air?" Mizu-Sen asked, her eyebrows coming together in confusion

"Oh yes. You are more than capable of controlling the air around you. Can you not feel the wind blowing through your veins?" The witch riddled. Mizu-Sen was growing more confused by the minute. "Oh you don't believe me do you? Close your eyes and concentrate on the blood flowing through your veins. You'll be surprised at what you find."

Mizu-Sen closed her eyes and focused on her heart beat. It was slow and rhythmic, like the pounding of a drum. She was suddenly her body; no longer just herself using her body. She was literally the blood that flowed through her veins; she was the flesh holding herself together. It was a strange sensation, of how she was still herself, but at the same time not. Exhilarating almost, of how she was in complete control of herself; but at the same time couldn't move a muscle_. 'Feel the air in yourself'_ a voice creeped into her mind. She was her blood once more; hot and red, pulsing at a rhythm through her body. There was something else mixed in with the blood though, oxygen. Oxygen in blood was normal, but this was something different entirely. The oxygen was literally blowing through her veins, Zeniba was right; wind was a part of her. She was wind. Wind and water moved in perfect synchronization through her; a harmonious balance.

"Come back to reality." A soft voice coaxed. Mizu-Sen took a sharp breath and snapped her eyes open. "For a moment I thought you were going to be completely gone. You need to practice hard not to get too caught up in your elemental form. Or you may just not be able to return to your physical form one day."

"That can happen?" she queried.

"Oh yes, how do you think river spirits live? Or forest ones for that matter? They become one with their element, only taking physical form when necessary. A physical form is not necessary, but it proves a great luxury." Mizu-Sen was confused, as always, but said nothing. "You are a rare case indeed, no need to ponder over your elemental form now though. So, you felt wind and water within you did you not?"

Mizu-Sen gave a small smile and nodded yes. "Good, now become one with the air inside you, and the blowing wind that is currently not connected to you. Concentrate on your elemental air and connect it to your environment."

Mizu-Sen knew that was going to be much easier said than done. Now that she was aware of the air and water flowing through her veins she could become one with it. She could feel herself separating the elements within her, shoving aside water for the moment. She felt that she could now become one with her wind without losing her physical form; grasping onto that small piece of herself she was suddenly very aware of the wind around her. She felt a tug, not like any tug she had felt before; there was no familiarity with this. This tug generated from deep within her soul; she used this to connect herself to the atmosphere. The wind was now hers to command. She gave a genuine smile.

It was strange, a true smile. Every smile she had given since she had come here seemed to either be forced or fake. But this, a genuine smile that radiated her happiness; it was odd, but it felt nice.

The wind bent to her will, flowing where she wanted. It caressed her skin and blew her long tresses back; the sensation was amazing. She wondered to what extent her power stretched. Feeling the wind grasp her even further she allowed herself to be raised by it. She gasped when she looked down to find herself a few inches off the ground. Her smile grew wider and she laughed. Something else unfamiliar, a light but yet throaty laughter. She allowed herself to be detached from the element then, not wanting to stretch herself much farther. She gently placed her feet on the snow covered ground; the smile never once leaving her face.

"Well done! Well done!" the witch applauded.

"Granny!" Mizu-Sen exclaimed, running towards the witch and throwing herself into the older woman's arms. "Thank you!"

"Don't thank me. It was all you dearie. You have proved yourself a wonderful student, now, join me inside. We have a meal to make for ourselves."

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><p>The spirit of the Kohaku River was greatly disturbed. The cryptic words would not leave his head; what did they mean?<p>

They were pieces of a puzzle but he could not assemble them. He knew they made sense in some way, but in _what_ way? The Yuki-Onna had her secrets yes, but did they have to be _that_ discreet? He paced back and forth in his private chamber trying to decode the riddle. But it just couldn't be done. It was important he knew that. Yubaba would not have told him this if she didn't intend for him to use it in some way.

Finally he gave up, it was just impossible. No amount of thinking in his frazzled state would do any good to the situation. Walking out onto the balcony he placed his hands on the railing and stared at the moon. The northern winds were stirring a frenzy in the sky searching for Mizu-Sen. Haku had been able to scare them away long enough for Mizu-Sen to leave the bathhouse on the train, but they had quickly returned in search of their new found friend. He knew that as long as the beautiful night sky was tainted by these entities it was going to be a long week.

But pass it did. With all traces of Mizu-Sen gone from the bathhouse the northern winds gave up in search of new fun.

Nearly 8 days after she had left, he had been rudely woken by a holographic Yubaba floating down through his ceiling. He, of course, had no shirt on and had fallen asleep on the couch which meant nothing to cover up. Upon realizing he had a visitor he scrambled up from the couch in search of a yukata that seemed to have been swallowed by the floor.

Yubaba merely rolled her eyes at this. "Spare me Haku, I couldn't honestly care less." She said. "I just thought you'd like to know that the northern winds are gone; now do as I say and bring Mizu-Sen back for me." She had stated blandly, and without a further blink of an eye she disappeared.

Haku stood in shock for a second letting the words register in his mind. The northern winds were gone…he could fetch Mizu-Sen! Forgetting his conflict of finding a shirt he ran to the balcony ledge and in a swift motion was a white dragon flying through the air.

As he neared Zeniba's cottage his impeccable hearing picked up to the sound of laughter. An old cackle mixed with a lovely giggle and before he could mentally stop himself; he smiled. The sound seemed to warm him from the inside out. He landed in the front of the cabin, claws gently melting in with the soft snow on the ground.

He heard voices coming from the inside of the brightly lit cabin.

_"Ah, it seems your time here has come to an end dearie."_

_"What? How do you know?"_

_"Check outside."_

The wooden door quietly clicked and creaked open. The face of a newly refreshed Mizu-Sen poked around the door. It was obvious she had been eating well, her cheekbones had filled out more and the skin no longer clung to her bones; she was rounding out in the most beautiful way. The gray eyes peered curiously at the dragon in front of her.

"Haku?" she asked hesitantly. As far as he was aware of she had never seen him fully in dragon form. She had been around him yes, but was instructed to keep her eyes closed. As way of an answer the dragon dipped his head. "Oh my! I wasn't expecting to leave so soon. I'm not packed or dressed." She admitted gesturing down to the frumpy nightgown she wore. He snorted through his nostrils as a way to tell her to get packed. "I-I'll be quick I promise." She said scurrying inside.

Zeniba then replaced her spot at the opening of the door. She eyed Haku a moment before chuckling to herself; obviously knowing something he didn't even come close to comprehending. Walking towards him she said "I hope I am forgiven for using you for a little spell of my own, and no I'm still not going to tell you what for." Haku rolled his eyes amused, he knew that almost anything he did in the presence of a witch twin could be used against him, and there just wasn't much he could do about that. "You take good care of that girl you hear? She's special, but you know that don't you?" she taunted, eyeing him mischievously.

At that point Mizu-Sen had rushed back outside, trading her loose locks for a pony tail tied back by the purple hair band and her nightgown for the salmon work clothes of the bathhouse. "Granny!" she shouted before running into the elder woman's arms. "You take care you hear?" she said still in the embrace.

"Oh you don't need to worry about me dearie. I'm as old as time itself; I can cope just fine. I sure will miss you though. It is _you_ who will need to take care of themselves."

Mizu-Sen nodded against Zeniba before taking a step back. "Thank you so much, for everything."

The witch cackled. "You don't need to thank me for anything, it was all yourself. I was just there to give a little push."

Haku was clueless as to what they were talking about, but guessed in time he would find out. Just as he would eventually find out everything else regarding his existence as of this moment. He snorted as a way to show his impatience. "I guess I better go." Mizu-Sen said towards Granny who merely smiled and nodded back.

Mizu-Sen walked towards the dragon. "You can change back now if we're going to get to the train."

Granny piped up "Dearie, the train only runs one way."

"What? Then how are we getting back?" Mizu-Sen asked in confusion.

The dragon chortled in amusement. He dipped his head down and nudged her shoulder playfully before lowering near the ground. "What? You want me to ride you?" she asked astonished. The dragon merely stared at her. Uncomfortable and _intimate_ it might be, she knew she had no choice. She tossed her legs around his frame and the very second she grasped his horns they were flying off into the night.

While they flew back, the words of the Yuki-Onna's lullaby haunted his every thought.

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><p>They landed on the bridge of the bathhouse completely alone, Mizu-Sen removing her shaky legs from around the dragon's frame. Hours on end of riding had left her virtually stiff and the thought of earth beneath her feet was bewildering. The air had been her sanctuary for so long anything else was just unnatural.<p>

She stumbled a bit before regaining her balance. Judging she was fine to move forward she took a shaky step; clearly misjudging the distance as she wobbled and threatened to topple over. Haku changed out of his dragon form and was grasping her elbow in less than a blink of an eye.

"Uh, sorry." She muttered embarrassed. He chuckled before letting her go. She took a deep breath trying to regain some dignity. The task proved futile when she noticed that Haku was – as the last time she had seen him in human form – undeniably shirtless. She couldn't help but ogle as he stood before her. She would undoubtedly have stood there all day and been perfectly content with it if a sharp voice had not broken her away from her trance.

"Mizu-Sen!" cried none other than the woman who was infamous for ruining such moments. The woman burst through the doors of the bathhouse and slammed into Mizu-Sen with a bone crushing hug, "Where the _hell_ were you!" she demanded.

_"Mmpff nngh."_ Mizu-Sen muttered into the woman's embrace; it was impossible to speak.

"Sorry." She said chuckling, letting the girl pull away a bit. At this Haku found it was a perfect time to escape. Of course nothing went unnoticed by Rin. "Hey, Haku! Put some clothes on will you!" at this Haku stopped dead in his tracks, pausing for a moment. He glanced backwards for a moment, his face unreadable. He decided to merely leave it alone; knowing Rin was just trying to toy with him. With that he disappeared completely off the bridge.

"Where'd he go?" Mizu-Sen pondered aloud.

"Who knows? I couldn't honestly care less though. Now come on! You've got a lot of explaining to do." Said Rin grabbing her wrist and pulling her through the doors. The bathhouse was deadly quiet as everyone was asleep. "Before you say anything, no you don't have to worry about work. This is the one day in a while we'll get off. So absolutely no work for the next twenty four hours." She said dragging her into the room they shared with the other workers; who were surprisingly awake at this hour. She sat the two of them down on a comfortable mat.

Mizu-Sen piped up ready to explain. "Well, after you…"

"HOLD IT!" Rin interrupted. "This is our day off, and I plan on _sleeping_ on my day off. With your freaky hair glowing in my face there's only two ways I'll be getting any sleep." Mizu-Sen cocked an eyebrow in a very Haku-like manner. "I can either wrap your head in a mountain of clothes, which wouldn't be very comfortable on your part. Or," she said getting up. She walked over to a cabinet in the far corner of the room; she slid back the wooden covers to reveal a stash of sakes. "I drink myself into oblivion." She finished off grabbing four bottles.

"Rin that's a lot of alcohol for one person." Mizu-Sen said gesturing to the ever growing pile of bottles in the woman's arms.

Rin burst out laughing; tossing a bottle to the dumbfounded girl. "Who said anything about one person? Getting drunk by yourself is just sad Mizu-Sen." She explained. Mizu-Sen just eyed the bottle curiously; she wasn't sure how she knew but something told her she had never tasted the devil's drink. "Come on, loosen up and drink the damn stuff!" Rin commanded, popping it open and taking a long drag.

Mizu-Sen hesitantly popped the lid and took a sip; it felt like fire going down her throat, it wasn't unpleasant though. She gagged at it for a few seconds before taking another sip. Rin was growing impatient at the delicate sips the girl was taking. After the third dainty swallow Rin reached over and tilted the bottle upwards forcing a large amount of sake down her throat. Mizu-Sen coughed and spluttered at this. _"Damn it Rin." _She muttered. Rin smiled, she had never heard the girl utter even the slightest of curse words. With her slight frame Rin knew it wouldn't take long for the alcohol to take over her mind.

Rin was going to get answers, and she was going to get them _now_.

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><p><strong>Wait, what's that? Oh you actually thought I was going to <strong>_**tell **_**you the lullaby? Oh tut tut tut no that just won't do for right now ;) Well I **_**could **_**but I am Snow Princess and I am evil. I like keeping you guys in the dark! **

**And I want to say a HUGE shoutout to AuthorSwimmerPoet for beta-ing this chapter, without it would have probably been the biggest grammatical fail to EVER hit fanfiction! I'm surprised she survived this chapter. That's the LAST time I ever try to write under a large amount of antibiotics and such. **

**So until next time please review! It'll lead to faster updates and a faster *hopefully* recovery from me :)**


	14. Announcements

**First off BIG thank you! Over 60 reviews! Wow! *blushes* thank you everybody sooooo much!**

**Narai9 – thank you!**

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**Shiori Kuroba – thanks! Hope this was fast enough for ya!**

**Silver Sea Mist – haha thank ya!**

**little princess of mercury – thanks SO much! That's very kind!**

**The Lifeless girl – haha! That's perfectly fine! Thank ya!**

**DesiBoo0902 – thank you! and I'm sorry I'm evil…I just can't help the cliffhangers, they're just too fun to write! Hope this one isn't that bad a cliff hanger.**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – hey! I'm fine thank you! haha that would be really funny! I just have a thing about Haku being shirtless…I mean come on who doesn't love a shirtless Haku! **

**Your story sounds really cool and I would love to read it! I think I could be just fine with the translating parts.**

**Miko Potter – Hahahah! That's super funny! God knows I can't handle it at all either! I mean like one bottle *boom* im in a whole other world! Haha! Who doesn't love a shirtless Haku! I mean seriously! It makes me happy too ;) and I think you will be happy with this too ;)**

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><p><strong>AN ANYTHIING WITH AN ASTERISK (*) BESIDE IT MEANS THERE'S SOMETHING EXPLAINING IT IN THE AUTHORS NOTE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER**

"_**Being drunk doesn't change who you are, it reveals it."**_

**Anon**

* * *

><p>Four weeks. It had been nearly four weeks since the mysterious disappearance of Chihiro Ogino.<p>

Japan had returned from its tundra-like state, but snow still fell and frost still edged on window sills. As soon as it was deemed safe search parties had scoured every inch of land within 20 miles; but to no avail.

Yuuko Ogino's figure had thinned out; eating only the bare minimum to keep her going. Her once round face had sunk into her cheekbones and her eyes seemed hollow. Akio handled the situation much differently; turning to gluttony to resolve his problems. While his wife soon became a walking skeleton he had placed almost ten extra pounds on his already large figure.

"She's still out there." Yuuko said absentmindedly one day. She was staring at the vase on the table; her eyes blank. "I can feel it."

Her husband walked over and joined her while consuming large amounts of rice. "I hope you're right." He muttered. "Yuuko, I'm worried about you. Yes, I'm concerned about our missing daughter, but do you think she would want you to become this…empty? I don't even know you anymore, please, break out of this! Chihiro wouldn't want this!"

Yuuko snapped her head up at this, staring intently at her husband for a few moments before her eyes returned lifeless again. "Chihiro wouldn't want us to give up on her. Chihiro wouldn't run away like that."

Akio sighed "It's been over a month. We've done everything we can! The flyers, the missing person report, the search party, even the billboards with her picture on it; they showed up with nothing!"

"I'll NEVER give up!" She shouted rising from her table. Akio inwardly took a sigh of relief; she was human once more; even if only for a moment. "I'll never give up on my baby!" she cried, tears threatening to pool over her eyes.

Akio stood up and embraced his wife, holding her close he let her sob for the millionth time in the past few weeks. "All of Japan is looking for her. They're all searching for her. Chihiro's a strong girl; she can handle anything life will throw at her." Yuuko continued to sob into her husband's chest. He pulled away and gazed at his wife of over 25 years. When they were married he pledged himself to be there for her throughout all the hardships in life; this was just another mountain they would climb and conquer together.

Yuuko stared at him for a moment; long suppressed emotions pouring through. She stared up at Akio, trying to muster up enough courage for the announcement. Before she had time to back down from this she blurted "I'm pregnant."

Akio's mouth nearly dropped to the floor. "W-What?" he whispered in shock.

Yuuko took his hand and placed it on her abdomen. "I'm pregnant, Akio. We're going to have another child." Her voice failing in some places. She cracked a small smile at this.

"How is this possible? I…uh…I mean I _know_ how it's possible…it's just that…uh…." He spluttered at a complete loss for words.

"I'm not going to bring another child into this world while our firstborn is missing. Our son or daughter will know Chihiro, they will grow up with her and Chihiro will love them unconditionally. She'll play with him or her in the nursery we'll all paint together. If it's a girl, when she's of age Chihiro will be the shoulder to cry on when she experiences her first break up. Chihiro will be the one to guide our son on trying to respectfully ask a girl on a date. This _will_ happen." She said, more to herself, but it affected Akio nonetheless.

Akio brought his wife back into another hug, much more gently as he was suddenly aware of every movement in the smaller woman's body. He just stood there hugging her for hours on end letting the facts register in his frazzled brain. He was going to be a father once more, and he was going to raise this one right. He would be the best father possible, and even if it meant hovering over their every step to make sure they didn't have the same fate as Chihiro; he would do it.

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><p>She was drunk. She was <em>very<em> drunk.

The alcohol had long since taken its course through her system and was hazing her mind. She was no longer able to think or talk for herself; everything that was being said was the sake talking.

Mizu-Sen was propped up against the back wall of the room; a pillow behind her head. The two were sitting on their combined sleeping mats, Mizu-Sen's arm was draped around Rin's shoulder, as she took a long drag from the bottle Rin suddenly burst out laughing.

"What?" Mizu-Sen slurred.

"You're on your first bottle….and you're already DRUNK!" she exclaimed laughing even harder. The fact that suddenly everything is hilarious when you're drunk seemed to register and Mizu-Sen joined the older girl in guffawing laughter.

Their laughter was broken off as the two took equally long drags. "You know what Rin?" Mizu-Sen said inaudible.

"What?"

"You…you are a good friend you know that?" Mizu-Sen said while patting the shoulder that was slung around Rin.

"Damn right I am!" Rin shouted. This caused several groans from the yuna sleeping in the room. "Shut up! You-you-yoooouuuuu were drunk lasssst night! Haha!" the alcohol was beginning to take over her system. It was deadly quiet for a few moments as Rin and Mizu-Sen looked at each other. Their eyes were glazed over and their hair in slight disarray. Finally they could hold it back no longer as they tumbled into another fit of laughter.

"Your hair is the freaking moon!" Rin suddenly shouted.

Mizu-Sen lolled her head over to one side and cocked an eyebrow at Rin. "Whaaat?" she dragged without emotion.

"Look!" Rin demanded pointing to the rising moon outside. "It's the moon!" she said grabbing a handful of Mizu-Sen's hair.

Mizu-Sen brought her hair to her eyes and studied it as closely as someone as drunk as her was capable of. She stared at her glowing hair, then shifted her gaze to the moon. Her face lit up into the goofiest grin, "I have moon hair!" she exclaimed taking another long drag.

"What are you!" Rin demanded.

"I don't know!" Mizu-Sen replied with glee. Alcohol just had a certain way of twisting very serious things into something hysterical.

Suddenly something dawned on Rin "Hey, where'd you go!"

"I was at Ze-Ze-Zeeeniba's!"

"The witch?"

"Yep!"

"Why?"

"Winds." Mizu-Sen as if that explained everything.

"What!" Rin asked incredulous

Mizu-Sen turned her head and with a scary drunk intensity looked at Rin. "Winds." She repeated in all seriousness before taking another drag.

"Winds." Rin replied emotionless, taking another sip only to discover the bottle was empty. She muttered an expletive before grabbing another from the pile in her lap. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"What did you do there?"

"Magic!"

"Magic?"

"Magic!" Mizu-sen repeated a little annoyed, had they not just done this sort of thing moments ago?

"I don't believe you!" Rin said

"Oh you don't?" said Mizu-Sen with a gleam entering her glassy eyes.

"Nope!"

Mizu-Sen unwound herself from Rin and shakily stood up. "Wind or water?" she asked wobbling.

Rin eyed her for a moment. "You pick." She was very interested to see where this would go.

Mizu-Sen gave a malicious grin as suddenly a breeze in the room picked up. It started gently at first, merely shocking Rin. It then soon turned into a small hurricane; picking up the yunas' blankets and slinging them around. This caused some very grumpy yuna to get up and try to slap Mizu-Sen, but the air currents around the drunken girl were too strong and they were forced backwards. Almost as soon as it had started, it stopped, leaving the room in disarray. Rin's jaw had dropped as far it would allow without dislocating. Mizu-Sen fell on the ground in a ball; hand clutching her stomach, her whole body quivering of laughter. "Your…face!" she managed to spit out.

"That was so cool!" Rin exclaimed. The yuna glared daggers at her. "What are you looking at! Go to sleep slug faces!" Rin commanded. One yuna made to charge at Rin but was held back by two others who just wanted sleep.

"Wanna see my spe-specialty?" Mizu-Sen asked.

"Hell yes I do!" Rin cried pulling out another bottle.

"Put that bottle down!" Mizu-Sen commanded. Rin did as was instructed and sat it in front of her. "p-put your blanket o-over you." Rin did as commanded again, leaving room for her eyes to see. "I did this _every day_ at Granny's!" Mizu-Sen said proudly. At that a frost began to creep over the bottle. Mizu-Sen yelped and the bottle exploded. The yuna who were still awake observing feared for their lives. Mizu-Sen stopped the glass midair and had them fly backwards into the bottle.

Rin said nothing. She grasped the bottle once more and held it to the air and screamed.

Mizu-Sen put her hands on the sides of her drunken head to block the noise. "T'hell was that for!" she demanded.

"Because that, Mizu-Sen, was _awesome_!" The two then burst out laughing. "Surusly, how do you do that when…DRUNK!" Rin bellowed.

"Dunno!" Mizu-Sen said taking another bottle out. "First time maybe?" she shrugged.

Rin coughed and spluttered halfway through her drink. "Your first time?" Mizu-Sen nodded. "You've never been drunk?" she asked, her voice failing in places. "How do you know? You don't _knooooowww_!"

Mizu-Sen nodded her head " 'Cuz I just do, Rin. Dunno, I just do. Never drank!" her speech slurring.

Rin bellowed in laughter. "What next? You're a virgin?" she said, her guffaws growing louder. Mizu-Sen was quiet for a second. "What?" Rin said noticing the silence. "You're not….you are!" the realization dawned on her. "No way! This is too good! You're a _virgin_!" Rin was supporting her stomach with her hand at this point.

"Maybe I am!" Mizu-Sen angrily retorted. The alcohol was shortening her normally smooth temper.

At that Rin stood up wobbling slightly. Even in her drunken state she had some lithe grace about her. She reached down to the girl laying on the bed mat, picked her up, and slung her over her shoulder like a bag of flour in one swift moment. Ignoring the smaller girl's kicks of protest Rin walked out of the room; the yuna sighed in relief.

"Put me down!" Mizu-Sen commanded.

"No." said Rin walking down dark corridors.

"At leassst put me in a better position!" she said.

"Nope. I like this position, easy to carry you, feet in my face and your head down my back. Yep, best position there is." She muttered sarcastically walking into an elevator. The girl struggled, but resistance was futile; the older woman had the grip of steel.

"Where are we going?" Mizu-Sen muttered in defeat.

"Lizard boy's room." Rin replied.

It took Mizu-Sen's frazzled brain a moment to comprehend exactly who _lizard boy_ was. "WHAT!" she cried

"You're a virgin." Rin stated.

"T'hell does that hafta do with anything?" Mizu-Sen commanded banging her fists on Rin's back. Mizu-Sen knew she didn't have to ask already knowing the answer.

Rin laughed, _how thick can you get?_ she thought to herself.

"PUT! ME! DOWN!" Mizu-Sen started screaming as the elevator came to a halt. Rin rolled her glassy eyes. The bathhouse must have been under a sleeping spell of some sort; there was no way the drunken girl's cries would have gone unnoticed.

Rin was clearly enjoying herself; Mizu-Sen would thank her later. "Shut up! You're gonna wake Lady Ka-Tsuchi herself!"

"At least she might help me!"

"Lady Ka-Tsuchi is not a virgin!" Rin retorted. Mizu-Sen mumbled something unintelligible; something along the lines of _what do you know?_ "She has a husband, there's no way she's a virgin."

"I hate you." Mizu-Sen said. Rin gave a slight _hmm_ of agreement.

Rin smiled as the two wobbled off the elevator. They were in an unfamiliar part of the bathhouse now; one Mizu-Sen had never visited. The walls were made of teak and had various earthy patterns etched into them. The ceiling was short and it was carpeted instead of the traditional wooden floors.

"Stop now or I'll freeze the water in your eyes!" Mizu-Sen made an empty threat. The words passed over Rin's head, she cared little; or the latter option being she was too drunk. Rin marched them to a blank space in the wall.

"Here we aaare!" Rin sing-songed. From what Mizu-Sen could see, it was just a wall. There was no door or anything to signal that a person's living quarters was there. Rin raised her hand and pulled it in a fist. Mizu-Sen was prepared for her to start doing some intricate knocking pattern on the wall to reveal some concealed chamber. Quite the opposite happened as Rin started banging her fist on the wall demanding that _'lizard boy slither out'._

There was a click heard from behind them as light filled the hallway. "Rin? Mizu-Sen? What's going on?" came a sleepy voice. Rin spun the two around; causing the loose upper body of Mizu-Sen to fling and hit her head against the wall, she muttered a weak _owwww_. Rin had been banging on the wall opposite of Haku's door. Haku eyed the two of them for a moment. "Are you drunk?"

"Damn right I am." Rin said parading past Haku and inviting herself in his room. The interior was light and airy. The same teak walling and floor matched the outside hallway; the only difference was a midnight blue ceiling that had stars dotting their way across the night sky. There was a large bed without a headboard adorned with blue silk sheets. A couch sat opposite to it and there was a small door that led to a closet. Rice paper doors concealed a balcony.

Rin flung Mizu-Sen off her shoulder and onto the large bed that took up the majority of the room. Mizu-Sen (who was by far the most drunk) grabbed one of Haku's pillows and curled her whole body onto it and held her head; which was still throbbing from where it had made contact with a wall.

"Excuse me, what is going on?" Haku demanded as lightly as he could.

Rin turned around and stared at Haku, placing her hands on her hips she replied "She's a virgin."

Haku glanced briefly at the balled up form of Mizu-Sen on his bed; his face turned beet red. "E-excuse me?"

Rin was growing annoyed. "She's. A. _Virgin_." She said, sounding out every syllable as if he was a child. At that she took her leave, pausing right before Haku "and so are you." she whispered low enough for only him to hear. "Goodbye." She said hotly, a smile plastered across her face as she finally left the room. Haku would later wonder how she was capable of returning to her room in her drunken state, but at that moment he was still flustered.

Mizu-Sen groaned from the bed, clutching her head harder. Haku walked over to her; concern plastered on his face. "Are you okay?"

Mizu-Sen opened one glassy eye to look at him; seeing his face flushed and concerned at the same time she couldn't hold back laughter. Haku quirked an eyebrow still gazing at her "You're _very_ drunk." he decided. She just smiled. "Would you care to explain to me exactly what _that_ was about?"

"I told Rin I'm a virgin. That's what happened." She stated matter-of-factly.

He closed his eyes, not willing to look at her "So why are you here?"

Her cheeks paled profusely at that. She didn't speak for a moment "You're...not…we're…not…"

"Oh, no, no." he said, his eyes snapping open. "Rin…gets…ideas when she gets drunk."

She burst out laughing once more. After a moment's silence of thinking "Not all of them are bad." She slightly pouted.

"Mizu-Sen." He said cautiously. She jerked into a sitting position on the bed and stared him down with intensity to make him squirm.

"You heard me!" she suddenly cried, her hair glowed brighter.

"Mizu-Sen I'm…"

"Searching for your one true love, yeah I get it. But she could be d-dead!" she interrupted. "I'm right here perfectly alive!"

Haku was startled at her words. He realized in that moment that he could have a happy life with Mizu-Sen. He cared for her well enough and felt in time it could turn to love. He felt a possessive urge when he was around her, she was his to protect. He had only ever felt that with Chihiro. Maybe Zeniba was trying to toy with him; maybe Yubaba had it out for him ever since he quit being her apprentice. Maybe Chihiro was dead…and Mizu-Sen was right there. Mizu-Sen, an ethereal beauty with chestnut and white glowing hair; who had eyes the color of a snow cloud that could stare into your soul; who had the kindness and compassion of anyone greater in the two worlds; who was sitting _right in front of him. _Mizu-Sen…_Chihiro!_ he shook his head to get himself to snap out of his dream-like state; Chihiro is what he had been concentrating on while staring at the girl in front of him. "Mizu-Sen, you're drunk. You can't possibly…"

"Doesn't matter! A true man's character comes out when he's drunk." She insisted quoting some unknown source.

Haku just stood there agape at her. "You don't know what you're saying." He insisted. "Just go to sleep." He said beginning to place a sleeping spell on her. It would benefit the both of them, but something stopped him; she was blocking his magic. "How did you learn to do that?" He whispered. She was _drunk_! She shouldn't be able to even sense the presence of magic.

She shrugged her shoulders feigning off the question. "Doesn't matter. Don't avoid me." She said shakily standing up. "I'd be better for you than that…_girl_…whoever she is." She began sulking.

"Mizu-Sen…" he began weakly. Mizu-Sen wobbled over to where he stood, stopping right in front of him. She squared her shoulders and tried to make herself as tall as possible, but it was in vain seeing as he was already a head taller than her. _Lady Ka-Tsuchi give me strength,_ he silently prayed. With the speed of a jaguar and the instability of a drunken Irishman she jumped and tackled Haku to the ground.

* * *

><p>It was late as the sunlight streamed through the windows. Mizu-Sen woke up very confused. She was lying in a soft bed under silk sheets; obviously not her sleeping mat. She checked her clothes to see that she was in her work clothes, but the pink top was off leaving her in the blue camisole that was always underneath. It was only then did she realize her head was pounding; enough to make her wail. She slammed her head down on the pillow and cradled it in her hands. She moaned again.<p>

She heard a slight rustling noise that had the sound equivalent of a tsunami. "Mizu-Sen?" asked a concerned voice.

She moaned once more "Don't shout."

"I'm talking very quietly Mizu-Sen." Haku said nearly whispering; no matter it still sounded like he was on loudspeaker to Mizu-Sen. She moaned again in protest. "Can you look at me?" he whispered kneeling down right in front of her scrunched face. She popped one bloodshot eye open to look at him, only to find his face a few inches away from hers. He smiled slightly seeing she was okay. "How do you feel?" he asked.

She took a moment to come up with a response. In all honesty she felt like she had been paraded over by the entirety of the spirit world, boiled on the surface of the sun and dipped in an acid lake to cool off, and her head had been beat with a club repeatedly. "Horrible." She managed to groan.

"Are you ill?" he asked. She just groaned. "Maybe you need more sleep. It's late." He said pulling away. He walked over to the rice paper doors and slid them back gently. The brightness of the sun's rays were intense.

She groaned once more "Turn off the sun."

Haku turned towards her. "What?"

"Turn off the sun, it hurts." She groaned, clamping her eyes shut and burrowing her head into his pillow. At this point Haku was growing worried about the girl. Spirits rarely grew ill, but when they did it was very nasty. Doing as she asked he slid the rice paper doors back again blocking the rays. "Thirsty." She moaned. Haku quirked an eyebrow at this; hadn't she had more than enough to drink last night? Out of nowhere a glass of water appeared on the nightstand next to the bed. She reached over and to Haku's surprise; poured the glass over her. The sheets and pillows were soaked from what was not on Mizu-Sen's body. He stared in wonder as the water immediately dried off the girl's body. The girl never ceased to amaze Haku. Without warning she jerked into a sitting position. "I'm going to be sick!" she yelled. Not hesitating a second, Haku materialized a bowl for her to use as she was noisily sick; everything disappearing in the aftermath.

"Mizu-Sen you are very ill." He decided. "I'm taking you to Kamaji."

She groaned at the intensity of his voice. "Who?"

"The boiler man, he will know how to heal you." he said reaching down to pick her up bridal style. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled into his chest; ice flushed her cheeks as she realized he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Do you ever wear a shirt?" she asked.

He chuckled slightly. "Well, I would be if you didn't rip mine to shreds last night." She turned her head to look up at him. What had happened last night? "You are a very interesting person drunk Mizu-Sen, entirely different." He said not meeting her gaze. "Rin…had some ideas and brought you down here. You agreed with them to an extent in which you found it suitable to jump on me and rip my shirt off. You merely surprised me, but I was able to get a hold on you and you fainted in which at that point I put you on my bed to sleep." She paled even further. She was definitely going to be dropping a bucket of water on Rin the next time they met. "Don't worry…you said nothing _too_ out of line. I realize you were drunk and so it is forgotten." He wasn't telling her something and she knew it. Her memory was nearly vacant of the previous night though; only remembering flashes of very angry yuna and wind blowing around.

She stared at the ceiling, unwilling to look at him any longer. She realized it was painted to match the night sky, the stars literally shined. "Pretty." She said.

"It's enchanted to reflect the night sky at all hours. Those are the actual stars as if you were viewing them in the human world." He replied. A streak of light ripped across the canvas: a shooting star.

In an instant they were no longer in Haku's personal quarters, but in a room with tall ceilings and countless drawers. An arachnid like man was sitting on a raised platform sleeping. Haku set the protesting girl down on the wooden floor and walked over to him. Mizu-Sen looked up to recognize this man as the one who was throwing buckets left and right on the night the woodland spirit showed up in flames. He placed a hand on one of the man's many shoulders and slightly shook it. "Kamaji." He whispered.

The old man gruffed and raised his head up. Little soot balls peered out of their holes to observe. "Haku? What is it? You haven't been down here in ages."

"I'm sorry, but I have a friend who is very sick. I was hoping you could heal her."

"_Her_?" the old man raised his eyebrows behind thick black glasses. Haku nodded his head. "What's her name?"

"Mizu-Sen."

"Heh? Sen!" Kamaji looked around anxiously then.

Haku cringed hearing Chihiro's old name "No. _Mizu_-Sen. That's her name."

Kamaji gave a _hmpf_ as way of reply. He turned his head to see the girl who had curled herself into a ball. "What's wrong with her?"

"Sensitivity to sound and light and vomiting." Haku replied. At that moment Kamaji's many arms were opening several doors and compartments; pulling out a rainbow of items.

"Tell me; did she consume alcohol last night?" Kamaji asked.

"Yes, but what does…" Haku began. Kamaji cut off with bellowing laughter; Mizu-Sen groaned in protest to the sound.

"Oh to be young again." Kamaji sighed.

"What's wrong with her?" Haku pressed.

Kamaji's hand worked meticulously crushing herbs and adding a few things here and there. "That is the side effect of alcohol Haku."

Haku stared at the old man as if he belonged in an insane asylum. "There _are_ no side effects to alcohol Kamaji. Not for…"

"Not for spirits." Kamaji finished. "I was once human Haku. I know the effects of overdrinking yourself. After my wife and mother died I was saddened so I drank nearly every night – a story for another day, but that is what your _friend_ over there is suffering from." **(*)**

Haku continued to stare. What Kamaji was saying made no sense. He had never heard anything of Kamaji's past, but the fact that he was comparing Mizu-Sen to a _human_ was mind rattling. Staring at the girl there was _nothing_ human about this girl; there was no possible way she could be. "Kamaji are you sure? I don't understand what you're saying."

"Humans suffer the side effects of alcohol, Haku."

"This girl is _not_ human!" he insisted. _What she is, I don't know. _He thought to himself. Kamaji ignored him, handing him a teacup filled with some kind of ginger smelling liquid.

Walking over to Mizu-Sen he knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder, transferring the teacup into her hands. She gratefully drank it.

"Hangover." She groaned.

"What?"

"It's called a hangover. I don't know how I know that, I just do." She shrugged and drank more; the concoction was comforting.

They sat in silence while she finished her drink. Suddenly Kamaji's head snapped up and he stared at the ceiling and said softly "Indian Summer."

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><p><strong>Okay, who caught me quoting Charlie Chaplin? Anyone? No? ah well worth a shot.<strong>

**I was going to wait a few more days to get this chapte rout because I wasn't actually sure what I wanted to happen, buuuuuuttt we had our first snow of the year today! And well – the fan fiction is called Snowflakes, and I figured it was probably a sign!**

**I hope I didn't offend anyone in this chapter with my odd humor, it gets a little out of hand sometimes and this is the result. I know they may have seemed out of character in this chapter, but take into the account that they're drunk out of their minds! No one's the same drunk.**

**All backround information on Kamaji regarding him once being human and the things about his wife and mother dying are fully accredited to Erin C and her fan fiction 'By the World Forgot' and was used fully with her permission. I own nothing of her fanfiction and was allowed permission straight from Erin C to use it.**

**Hmm, I kind of lost myself in this chapter. I wanted the main focus to be on Yuuko announcing the pregnancy, haha but that obviously didn't happen!**

**I've kinda got a thing going about a shirtless Haku. Just can't resist writing it ;) I mean seriously who doesn't love a shirtless Haku!**

**Warning: the next chapter will be on the short side, but with **_**very **_**good reasoning that you'll just have to wait to find out! I actually almost don't wanna write the next chapter…it would mean my little story is all grown up with 15 chapters ;(**

**Once again kudos to the lovely AuthorSwimmerPoet for beta-ing this chapter. **


	15. Sister

**FlutterbyBella – Thank you! I updated!**

**Iluvorangsanffanfics – oh my god, hangovers are the worst! Haha! I'll be honest…I toyed with the idea of that happening a tiny bit, but decided against it. Instead she was so drunk she just passed out after jumping, haha! Omg the robo face is cute!**

**Miko Potter - can't wait for your fic! **

**Skye Wolfe – omg thank you so much!**

**PiiXXiiEE – Haha I love art! I just suck at it lol**

**Elivira – thanks1 yeah we had Friday off, woohoo! It was barely even snowing but we still got out so me was a happy person XD**

**Asumi-chan – thanks for all the reviews! Wow very cool analogy about the river and lake with the fog! I really liked that, and I totally see what you mean about it getting a little boring; I can totally see what you mean! I tried to throw in some action with the woodland spirit, but, it wasn't much. I promise there will be some intense power using scenes in the future. I think you'll be happy with this chapter though XD. And I can assure you I will never give up on a fan fiction!**

**JIkarashino-Haruko – your story is very good! I enjoyed the knights and kingdom and everything about it! My friend who translated it for me told me to tell you very good job with it! I really enjoyed reading it, thanks for sharing :)**

**Fish – Thank you so much! Haha it was pretty funny! I really enjoyed writing it!**

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><p><strong>ANYTHING WITH AN ASTERISK (*) BESIDE IT MEANS THERE IS SOMETHING EXPLAINING IT IN THE AUTHORS NOTE POSTED AT THE END OF EVERY CHAPTER<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

**Sister**

"**And so The Snow Queen also became a story about the need to seek equilibrium, in our own lives, with the natural world, even within the universe at large."**

**Joan D. Vinge**

* * *

><p>Haku thought nothing of Kamaji's strange comment on the arrival of Indian Summer. The occasional off day during winter when the weather is strangely warm and a gentle breeze picks up; a very nice relief from months of chill, but why Kamaji was so concerned Haku didn't know. He figured Kamaji was excited because the weather would temporarily relieve an ache in his old bones, but he wasn't sure. His attention was on Mizu-Sen at the moment.<p>

Human? How? There isn't any possible way…This girl was anything _but_ human.

Days passed and the events of "the night" (as Haku had nicknamed it) seemed forgotten. Mizu-Sen was determined to stay away from him. As he was still on command from Yubaba to work with the girls he was forced to be around them. The occasional "Could you pass me the…" or the accidental brush of hand while working was exchanged, but every time he tried to get her attention she came up with an excuse to quickly leave the room; avoiding eye contact at all cost.

Then one day Haku cornered Mizu-Sen. His acute dragon senses could hear her heartbeat flutter and her cheeks flushed white. "I know you've been avoiding me, and it simply isn't fair on either of our parts. What had happened was merely the alcohol and all is forgiven and forgotten."

Mizu-Sen knew differently, it wasn't just the alcohol, it was her but the alcoholic influence made her able to do all the things she had been too meek to do before. She said none of this aloud. She bit her lip so hard it threatened to bleed in protest.

"We're still friends." He assured with a smile.

She sighed and realized she was being ridiculous. Sure they may harbor some feelings for each other, but they could not be acted upon and there was no point in ruining a perfectly good friendship over it. She said nothing thought the whole ordeal, only nodding at appropriate places. Suddenly she caught Rin staring at the two pressed against the wall. She flushed white even stronger as she realized what the situation must look like. Mizu-Sen's back was pressed against the corner and Haku had his hands placed on the walls on either side of her head. It was a very intimate scene.

Rin gave them a wary look before turning away. Mizu-Sen knew she was going to be teased mercilessly for this later. "Dammit Rin." She muttered under her breath.

A mischievous glint entered Haku's eyes then. "I think I may have a little job for you Mizu-Sen; that is if you're willing to cooperate."

It was then after that that Haku proposed his own method of revenge on Rin. Mizu-Sen was slightly hesitant at first; seeing as how she had already followed through with her own plan of dumping a pail full of icy water on Rin's sleeping form, but Haku was far from satisfied. He promised it was a harmless prank; fully unaware of the future consequences.

"Just put it in your hair Mizu-Sen." Haku instructed, cradled in his arms was a small wooden bowl filled with a dark paste.

She stared hesitantly at it. Even though her glowing hair made her stick out like a sore thumb and caused several issues with people staring, she was actually rather fond of it. "Haku I…"

"It will only last a few days." He pressed, his eyes smoldering.

She groaned almost childishly, why was she doing this again? The green eyes answered her question. "Fine!" she cried throwing a hand up to her head in frustration. Haku's eyes glimmered mischievously and the corners of his mouth quirked upwards; where was this new side of Haku coming from? He always seemed to throw up a barrier of propriety when others were around. He wasn't cold per se, merely politely quiet. But this new Haku, it was like a small boy was living within him. "Where's this Haku been before?" she asked.

She was now sitting on a wooden stool in a secluded corridor of the bathhouse. Haku was behind her suddenly, undoing the purple hair band gently. Once it was completely out he gingerly placed it in her hand before moving his long fingers through her silky locks. He soon found himself caressing them and stopped mid-act, he blinked rapidly for a moment before finishing smoothing her hair without the gentle caresses he was using before. "What do you mean?" He responded to her question after a moment.

She frowned slightly; she wished he would continue stroking her hair, but she knew such things would only hurt the both of them in the end. She sighed and said "Your playful manner, I've never seen this before."

Suddenly a very strange sensation spread over the top of her head as Haku started to apply the thick paste. It rested heavy and was very slimy, but smelled pleasant enough; like a mixture of spring flowers and fresh earth. She heard Haku chuckle lightly. "Dragons can be very childlike creatures when given the opportunity. It more often than not comes out around those we care about." That last statement sent a bell chiming in Mizu-Sen's heart. "A little girl taught me many years ago about the true meaning of friendship." He continued, pausing a moment to gather more paste. "That sometimes means having a little fun." She could hear the smile in his voice. He was thoroughly enjoying himself, and she wasn't about to bust the first bubble of happiness he may have had in a long time.

She soon relaxed into him as he worked. The paste was quickly covering her hair, but she had so much to cover that she knew it would take a little while. She suddenly realized she had no idea what he was putting on her hair, was she really that trusting of Haku to let him put some foreign substance on her? She knew the answer was yes automatically. "What is this stuff?" she asked.

"A'Hatu paste**(*)**." He replied. She cringed slightly at the sound of the word; it wasn't very pleasant on the ears. "It can be made many different ways, but the way I used to make it would work best with you, considering you favor water. I used a concoction of salt water, crushed water lilies, and the soil from the bottom of a pond." Her eyes grew wide. Pond scum was in her hair! She wanted to scrape it off immediately but restrained herself. "I promise you it has been purified with many spells. People use this for almost everything. It's one of the most useful substances in this world, of course humans know nothing about it. It can do almost anything you wish of it as long as you cast the right spell. Once when I was badly injured Kamaji made A'Hatu paste and it healed me. Also, on another occasion a woodland spirit came and requested some paste be made from the leaves of his eldest tree and a scoop of his best earth, only a very skilled herbalist can make it. Yubaba was thrilled at the profit she made." He smirked.

"So the ingredients vary depending on your element?" she asked.

"Yes." he replied "Seeing as you favor water..."

"And air." she cut him off.

His hands automatically stopped working their way through her hair. "Air?" he asked. "How?"

"I don't know. But the air is mine to control too."

Haku just stared at her for a moment. _How is this possible?_ He thought to himself. Spirits are bonded to either one element or none at all. He being a water spirit was tied to his river, it was only natural. Of course lesser spirits, such as the animal spirits, had a minor connection to a particular element, but no control of it. They were bonded to a certain forest or plain to live in, and they were connected to the earth in that way but it was not theirs to control. Same as birds; they could co-exist with the air and bend it to help them fly, but it was not theirs to master_. Two elements?_ No one except Lady Ka-Tsuchi had two elements that were theirs. She was earth and fire, hence her namesake.

Wait...Ka-Tsuchi…Indian Summer. How could he have been so stupid? Ka-Tsuchi was waking up for a small amount of time! That's why it's warm for one or two days every winter, Ka-Tsuchi rises for a short amount of time before returning to her slumber!

Suddenly the idea of disguising Mizu-Sen's hair seemed an even better idea. Mizu-Sen had only been here for about three weeks and with Ka-Tsuchi rising it might bring unwanted attention to Mizu-Sen. Surely Ka-Tsuchi would want to meet with the ever famed Mizu-Sen as Ka-Tsuchi was supposed to be the only one with glowing hair.

Letting the comment about two elements slide for a brief moment Haku continued, deciding it best not to tell Mizu-Sen of Lady Ka-Tsuchi's awakening just yet. "Well…fire spirits use a combination of ashes and fire lily; air spirits use captured wind and a white rose. White roses are bathed in the moonlight and hold an essence of the heavens in them, that's why they are used. Earth spirits use soil, and either leaves or sunflower petals, and water spirits, as I said, use the water lily, salt water, and pond soil." He finished.

_Pond scum_. Mizu-Sen corrected with disgust in her head. "So it can serve almost any purpose?" she saw Haku's shadow nod. By that point her entire scalp was covered in the heavy A'Hatu paste.

Haku muttered a few words under his breath, the spell to settle the paste. A light glow appeared for a brief second before disappearing entirely with the paste. "It's finished." He said softly.

Mizu-Sen reached up to touch her hair, it felt no different. Hooking a lock onto her finger she brought it around to her gray eyes to investigate the difference. There was no white at all! No glow, nothing. It was brown, plain brown. She smiled at the familiarity of it, it felt more homey but she missed her white glowing hair; it was a part of her. She sighed and reminded herself it would only be for a short while.

Haku's breath hitched when he saw this. It was completely chestnut brown. The exact same color as Chihiro's, the shade matched to a tee. He used every fiber of his being not to reach out and stroke it.

"Remind me why we did this again?" she said slightly pouting.

Haku regained himself and chuckled lightly. "So no one recognizes you. That's how people have come to know you, your white luminous hair, not a soul will recognize you now." He smirked.

"Rin will know it's me." She said

"No, I can guarantee she won't. She will just think of you as a new worker and won't glance your way twice." He assured.

"It will come off soon, right?"

"Give it two to three days' time." He nodded.

"Fine." She sighed, still unsure that what they were doing was the right thing to do, but she knew she would never deny Haku if he wanted something bad enough. "Let's get this over with."

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><p>"So let me get this straight." Rin said staring at the unfamiliar girl in front of her. Chestnut hair was piled high in a bun on the top of her head and she was wearing a gaudy yellow kimono with floral designs on it. The attire didn't suit the girl in the slightest. Gray eyes were hidden underneath thick charcoal linings on her eyelids. "You're one of the new workers sent by Yubaba to pamper the workers for a day."<p>

It was probably the weakest excuse any person would ever have come up with, but Rin bought it. She was pulling the charade of a visiting spirit of a rival bathhouse to pamper the workers for a day; such a thing would never happen. "Aye" the strange girl replied, disguising her voice with a strange accent.

"Well get to work then!" commanded Rin with glee. Rin was so looking forward to this.

The disguised Mizu-Sen escorted Rin over to an empty tub that had been previously filled. Rin never thought to ask why none of her sisters' were receiving this treatment, but she couldn't honestly have cared less! She was going to be pampered and she was going to enjoy herself dammit!

Rin shoved her clothes into Mizu-Sen's arms before climbing in the tainted water. Mizu-Sen placed them on the ground on the spot, unsure of what else to do with them. She glanced up to see Haku standing on one of the bridges of the bathhouse, watching with clear amusement written on his features. Even from the distance she could see the knowing wink he gave her.

The previously drawn water had been tainted with blue dye. Soon every inch of Rin's body would be indigo. Haku promised it wasn't permanent though.

Rin eased her way into the steaming water and let her tense muscles relax into the heat. Mizu-Sen had to bite her lip to stifle a giggle that threatened to escape. She could already see the dye begin to taint Rin's pale skin. "Close yer eyes." Mizu-Sen demanded in her fake accent. Rin gladly obliged and let herself relax even farther into the water.

Mizu-Sen picked up a water jug that contained even more tainted water and poured it over Rin's head. She gasped slightly; she hadn't expected the dye to be that prominent! When Haku said it would be blue, she thought it meant there would be a slight tint to her skin. No, her skin was pure indigo. Rin would be furious no doubt. Mizu-Sen jerked her head upwards and stared accusingly at Haku whose eyes had begun to sparkle.

She rubbed Rin's head lightly with oils; her hair then turned green! What had Haku done! This wasn't part of the agreement! Just blue skin, but no, the clever dragon had to go and give her green hair! Mizu-Sen wouldn't be surprised if Rin went on a murder rampage after this.

"Yer done!" Mizu-Sen shrieked at seeing this.

"What!" Rin's eyes flew open. She had only been in the bath for maybe a minute!

"Yer done! Get out!" Mizu-Sen squeaked.

Rin turned and glared daggers at her. Rin knew it must be too good to be true; the old hag's ideas of pampering must be very different from hers indeed.

She dragged her now indigo body out of the water; Haku turned his head away for modesty reasons. Mizu-Sen hesitantly handed Rin a towel and her clothes. Rin reached for the towel; only then noticing the abnormality of her skin tone. She stood there in shock for a moment, unable to move a muscle. She blankly brought her hand to her face; staring intently at it. She then looked down to investigate the rest of her body. She squeaked when she saw her hair that was now forest green.

She turned to look at Mizu-Sen for a moment, at first in confusion; confusion was quickly replaced with a murderous glare of realization. "Mizu-Sen!" Rin shrieked. Mizu-Sen gasped; she knew she was now recognized. "You better run if you value your life!"

Mizu-Sen threw off the gaudy yellow kimono and revealed her work clothes without the top. Just her blue camisole and baggy blue pants. Without even thinking she mentally clothed Rin so she would be modest during their little "chase". They were now clothed identically; the only difference being the blue skinned green hair dripping wet girl who was on a mission to kill.

Before thinking twice Mizu-Sen bolted out of the room. The ball of fury was quickly catching up to her from behind.

Without any effort on her part the water from the surrounding baths exploded out of the tubs and slicked the floors. For the brief second Mizu-Sen was wet she felt a surge of energy course through her body; she was rejuvenated. Rin slipped and slid across the slick floors. By this time they were in the main bath room where everyone was standing to watch. The wide variation of spirits were all watching awestruck and in fear. Fear that they could possibly be next, but in awe because the girl running in the front had just absorbed water into her body!

"Mizu-Sen I'm gonna kill you!" Rin huffed.

But by this point Mizu-Sen was somewhat enjoying herself. She didn't feel the slightest bit tired as the water was now coursing through her veins. She glanced behind to see the rage encompassed Rin staggering behind her; not paying attention to where she was going she nearly collided with a tub. Seeing she was a split second away from impact she bent the air currents around her to lift her up over the tub, and just to show off she did a flip over it. Once back on her feet on the other side of the tub she giggled profusely to herself. She really was a child at heart sometimes.

Haku stared from the bridge above. It was true. She could control air as well. He didn't know what to think of this at the moment. He would have pondered this farther had he not been occupied with watching the girl below him have fun. Her laughs sent a bell chiming in his heart that he couldn't resist smiling to.

Once Mizu-Sen had decided enough was enough she turned around to face the infuriated blue woman head on. In her fury she was staggering profusely, almost as if heavily intoxicated. Once Mizu-Sen decided it was a safe distance away she made the water rise from the baths once more and land on Rin. Mizu-Sen clenched her fists, as she did this the water on the woman turned to ice. Rin's whole body was now a block of ice excluding her head so she could breathe.

Rin started screaming obscenities to let her out.

"I will let you out when you calm down." Said Mizu-Sen calmly.

"Why?" she spit out.

"It was Haku's idea." Mizu-Sen stated calmly.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!" demanded an angry voice. The crowd of spirits split to make a pathway for the crone to walk through. The entire bathhouse had assembled into the main bathroom, save Haku who was still standing on the bridge looking down on the scene. Yubaba paraded her way over to the two girls. "WELL? SPEAK UP!"

Mizu-Sen opened her mouth to justify their case, which is until a melodious voice filled the room. "Is there a problem Yubaba?"

Yubaba's eyes grew wide and she drew in a long breath. The entirety of the bathhouse then got on hands and knees bowing; save Yubaba, Mizu-Sen, Haku on the bridge, and Rin in the block of ice. The ice then melted off the girl and she immediately threw herself down on hands and knees like the rest of the bathhouse. Mizu-Sen stared at Rin, mouth agape. _"I only bow to two people"_ Rin's words echoed through Mizu-Sen's mind. She knew then that someone very powerful and important was in the bathhouse. Not wanting to come across as disrespectful she joined by Rin's side and took the bowing stance of everyone else.

Out of the corner of her eye Mizu-Sen could make out Yubaba turn around to face another woman. Mizu-Sen could make out the bottom of a beautiful red kimono, with birds of the earth and flowers etched onto red fabric. It was truly a spectacular garment.** (*)**

"L-Lady Ka-Tsuchi! No problem I can assure you!" squeaked Yubaba. "What are you doing out of your sleep my Lady?" Yubaba then pressed herself to the floor at Lady Ka-Tsuchi's feet.

"Indian summer." Is all the voice replied. Mizu-Sen gasped, she knew that voice. It was her own.

"No!" the familiar voice of Lady Ka-Tsuchi's voice cried and she quickly scurried around Yubaba and headed in the direction of Mizu-Sen. "No." said the voice gently but firm. She saw Ka-Tsuchi bend down out of her impaired vision; suddenly she felt a warm hand being placed gently on her bare shoulder. "You do not bow to me."

Mizu-Sen jerked her head up to be greeted with red orbs. The two then rose simultaneously, Ka-Tsuchi's hand never leaving Mizu-Sen's shoulder. Mizu-Sen gasped. Lady Ka-Tsuchi was stunningly beautiful. She had a flawless complexion, a thin heart shaped face and long chestnut locks that fell halfway down her back. Fire red streaks glowed in her hair. Ka-Tsuchi's eyes were fiery red, but completely unintimidating; red usually signified evil or anger, but Ka-Tsuchi's eyes only held mirth and were inviting. It was like staring into the evening sun.

Mizu-Sen gasped, realizing it was _her_ face she was staring at! Set aside the differences in hair and eye color, and the two girls were identical.

She saw Ka-Tsuchi frown slightly for a moment before touching Mizu-Sen's hair. Just the lightest of touches and it fell out of the tight bun, sending long waves tumbling down her back. The A'Hatu paste, which was supposed to last another 3 days, had completely disappeared from her hair revealing the glowing white streaks once more.

Her shabby work clothes had been replaced with an untraditional kimono that was the opposite of Ka-Tsuchi's, where there was red on Ka-Tsuchi's kimono, there was blue and white on Mizu-Sen's. it was long and trailed some on the floor, there were no straps which could have been considered scandalous, but the goddess could wear whatever she liked. It was tied back in a matching obi with a bow.

Mizu-Sen stared into the nearly identical face of Ka-Tsuchi. Ka-Tsuchi's face broke into a wide grin as she pulled the stunned girl close in a tight embrace. "Welcome home sister."

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><p><strong>Okay come on, who honestly saw THAT one coming XD. I mean I've only been hinting at it since uh….chapter 8! Make sense now? <strong>

**Wahhhh *cries* you all now know! I liked keeping you guys in the dark…but the time had come.**

**(*) A'Hatu paste is something I completely made up, the name means absolutely nothing lol. Ask permission before using.**

**(*) Picture of Lady Ka-Tsuchi's untraditional kimono is on my blog.**

**So I'm officially recovered and school has for good claimed me once again, so I've decided to update every SATURDAY. So check back on Saturday's for updates!**

**For those who couldn't read chapter 14, so sorry about that. There was something wrong with the system. It's fixed now; I just had to re upload the chapter so sorry if you got two emails based on that!**

**Show me the love with a review! Come on I answered the question of who she is, something you all have been dying for! And for those of you who read and leave, and YES I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE, **_**please**_** review! I'll give you a puppy! Okay maybe not, but I will give you guys more chapters!**


	16. The Sun, The Moon, and the Truth

**From now on replies to reviews will be posted at the end of the chapter.**

**Note: please bear with me through this chapter. It's rather long as it contains a lot of information and it may seem very anticlimactic, but just hold with me to the end of the chapter! I couldn't find another way to get all the information out there except by compressing it all into one huge thing, but I left you all with a little bit of an interesting treat at the end!**

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><p><strong>ANYTHING WITH AN ASTERISK (*) BESIDE IT MEANS THERE IS SOMETHING EXPLAINING IT IN THE AUTHORS NOTE POSTED AT THE END OF EVERY CHAPTER<strong>

**Chapter 16**

**The Sun, The Moon, and the Truth**

"**Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth." **

– **Buddha**

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><p><em>Sister. Sister. Sister.<em>

The word echoed through the room. Though everyone was shocked, no one dared to say anything.

Mizu-Sen took a step backwards, wriggling out of Ka-Tsuchi's arms. She opened her mouth to speak, but soon realized she had nothing to say. Her apparent sister clutched one of Mizu-Sen's hands in her own. The room then disappeared, the bowing kami fading from sight.

Ka-Tsuchi stepped back and let go of Mizu-Sen's hand. Mizu-Sen blinked several times before turning around and seeing where they were. It was divided in halves, one fading into the other. The side she was on was pitch night with a full moon and stars twinkling in the sky. An aqua river coursed through the side Mizu-Sen was on and there was a gentle breeze. A throne made of ice was placed so that the moon's rays reflected off the throne and formed images in the river. Something told her that in the light were hidden secrets. In the side of the area Ka-Tsuchi was in the sun rose high in the sky and heat was rising visibly from the hearty soil. Lush green grass carpeted the landscape and small wildlife flourished. The colors! Oh the colors, it was completely other-worldly. Every color looked as if it were saturated with a box of neon paint. Grass shouldn't be that green, and the water shouldn't be that blue! It was as if she were going from a black and white screen and seeing color for the first time. It was the largest yet smallest space there could have been. When looking at it one way it could continue forever, but at the same time it was probably the smallest are in in all the worlds which made it seem almost claustrophobic.

Separating the areas was a small pond with two koi fish circling each other. White and black, peace and chaos, evil and good, circling each other in perfect harmony keeping the world at bay. The two fish circled around a small orb, not large but not small either. The orb had what looked like fog swirling in it. Green, blue, red, and white all embodied one another in the small area. Yes, this place was in perfect harmony with itself.

She saw Ka-Tsuchi go and sit on a tree stump. A small brown rabbit with unnatural earthy brown eyes immediately jumped onto her lap and she welcomed it with open arms. Mizu-Sen then turned to mimic her sister's action and sat down on the ice throne. She wondered why Ka-Tsuchi was sitting on a tree stump while she was on a throne.

Ka-Tsuchi smiled at her for a moment petting the hare in her lap. Mizu-Sen wondered why she was allowing it on her lap; surely it could mess up her extravagant kimono! "Where are we?" Mizu-Sen asked at last.

"Everywhere, and yet, nowhere at all." chimed Ka-Tsuchi's identical voice. Mizu-Sen had to force herself not to cringe at how identical they truly were.

"What does that mean?" asked Mizu-Sen.

Identically shaped almond red eyes met their twin gray ones. "I'm not sure really." Shrugged Ka-Tsuchi, "I _think_ we're in the center of the island of Mumei. Far in the earth beneath the cobblestone compass."

"The island where the solstice ball was held?" queried Mizu-Sen.

Ka-Tsuchi nodded her head. "The one in the very center of the spirit world. It's just a hunch, there's no way of truly knowing. I only have this suspicion because everything branches out from Mumei, it's an area of pure magic like this place." She said gesturing to their surroundings. Mizu-Sen said nothing more, unsure of what to say. Ka-Tsuchi spoke up "You know, after so long I would think I would have so much to say to you. Now I'm not sure of what to say." She smiled.

"How about this," began Mizu-Sen "_who am I?"_

Ka-Tsuchi chuckled dryly. "Such a simple question. So many answers." Mizu-Sen waited patiently for the nearly identical girl to continue. "Well, I guess I will just start from the beginning. Don't worry about the people back in the bathhouse, after all we aren't really gone; this place doesn't truly exist. Time doesn't run here." Mizu-Sen was as confused as ever but was learning not to ask questions. More questions would just lead to more confusion, and she was here to get answers. "Are you sure you are ready to hear this?" asked Ka-Tsuchi.

"Yes." said Mizu-Sen determinedly.

Ka-Tsuchi relaxed into the back that the tree stump had just grown. "Well, the versions have been changed over the course of history; I'll begin with the very beginning of the earth when the Shinto religion reigned supreme. Izanagi-no-Mikoto, our father, and Izanami-no-Mikoto, our mother, were called upon to create the heavens and earth. They were given a spear with which they stirred the water, and when removed water dripped from the end, an island was created in the great nothingness. That was the beginning of you and I, you were the water and I the fire. You the heavens and I earth. Now here is where the facts have been twisted, the people of the Shinto religion then state that they bore two offspring, you and I, which is true, but they claim that the two offspring were made poorly and tossed them away and they bore eight more offspring that became the islands of Japan. In all reality the two offspring, you and I, became the most powerful entities in existence and the eight other offspring they to become the islands of Japan, that was merely me creating more land.

"Immediately after we came into existence I was bestowed the elements of earth and fire and you the elements of water and air. When we were announced our elements we were given names based on those elements for if we ever were to take physical form. I was given the name of Ka-Tsuchi. Fire and Earth. Before I tell you your true name, say your current name one last time. It will be the last time you ever use it." Ka-Tsuchi said with a smile.

Mizu-Sen stared at her for a moment. Was she really ready to let go of her given name? It had proven a nice substitute for her true name over the past three weeks. _Yes, let it go._ Said a voice in her head. She then had the courage of a thousand soldiers. "Mizu-Sen." She proclaimed. Once she said it she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her chest, the name was no longer hers. She could still call herself that yes, but it wasn't in her possession any longer.

Ka-Tsuchi chuckled. "Oh the clever Yubaba. She did keep some of your true name. Well, one of them at least. As you'll soon find out we have many names. In time you will get to choose who calls you what. In different cultures you have had different names, but the one that I will be calling you and so will the people of the Shinto religion, is Mizu-Kaze. Water and air." The newly announced Mizu-Kaze chuckled to herself. She would truly never comprehend what she was being told. There was something that felt right about the name. It was her name, but at the same time it wasn't.

"Whether Zeniba has told you or not, and yes I have been talking to Zeniba about you, you are water and air. I know from a little chat with her that you recently discovered this; you can feel it running through your veins. I feel the exact opposite, earth and fire flow through my veins.

"A few millennia passed and only kami inhabited the area our parents had created. We were kept in our elemental form the whole time, never seeing reason to break away from the earth and heavens. Then one day Izanagi-no-Mikoto and Izanami-no-Mikoto disappeared. They faded from existence, to this day I have no idea what happened. So after that we became everything there was.

"We are balance, like the koi fish in that pool." She said gesturing to the small pool where the koi fish were circling around the strange orb. "We are half of everything. Without us the world would cease to exist."

Mizu-Sen blinked rapidly. This was too much to take in. "So…we're elemental spirits born of the creators of the heavens and earth?"

Ka-Tsuchi shook her head and sighed. "This is so complicated to try to explain. Well, we are the offspring of the creators of the heavens and earth, but they were just the creators. We actually are the heavens and earth. Izanagi-no-Mikoto and Izanami-no-Mikoto weren't necessary after we were…produced?" she questioned searching for the right word "There isn't really an easy way to describe how we came to be. They were the figureheads, something for kami to look up to and praise without holding any real power. We were the ones sustaining existence.

"I am the earth that the animals and humans inhabit. I am the rolling desert sand dunes, I am the highest mountain. I am the fire that warms the hearth of many homes. You are the rivers that snake through mountains, the roaring oceans, right down to the last raindrop. You are the breeze that blows on a gentle summer's day, the streamline wind that tears homes and trees alike to pieces. Despite the difference in our elements, we are linked. Without the earth, rivers would have nothing to run through. Your oceans met with my beaches. Where my earth ends, your sky begins. Your rain waters my flora and without your rivers my animals would have nothing to drink. We need one another to keep harmony. The four elements cannot exist without each other. Without us there would be nothing.

"Our mother and father were guardians of the moon and sun, and when they disappeared so did the protection of the moon and sun. With you being ruler over the heavens you had every right to the moon and sun. You refused the sun, it was nothing but fire and that would not work with you being water. When you became the moon you then connected it to your water. The moon then controlled the tides in the oceans. You then gave the sun to me, which is why my hair glows red, like the surface of the sun."

"Wait, I thought your hair glows red because your main element is fire?" queried Mizu-Kaze.

Ka-Tsuchi shook her head no "My hair glows red because of the sun. The kami have their own legends of us, and I say let them have them. I have no interest in their petty gossip about us. My hair reflects the surface of the sun. You however are the moon. Your hair reflects the surface of the moon, which reflects the light of my sun." suddenly Mizu-Kaze was taken back to the night where she had gotten drunk with Rin. _"I have moon hair!"_ is what she had said. She laughed inwardly at how that was actually true.

"That is another connection between us. You chose the moon wisely, even though the sun was rightfully yours. The moon pushes and pulls your ocean tides, but my sun brings the water back into your atmosphere to have it rain back down. The humans believe this is a phenomenon they call the water cycle; little do they know that it's actually two sisters coexisting."

Mizu-Sen slumped on her ice throne. _Power, so much power_! She suddenly understood; she was half of existence. If she were to perish then so would everything else. She placed her head in her hands trying to let the information sink in. She hoped that something her apparent sister said would have triggered a long repressed memory, but so far there had been nothing. "I'm sorry." Whispered Mizu-Kaze. "I don't remember anything!" and for the first time since she had arrived at the bathhouse, she let herself cry. They were sad bitter tears and every drop seemed to tear at Ka-Tsuchi's heart. Here she had finally gotten her sister back, and she could do nothing but cry.

Ka-Tsuchi sighed in frustration. If only she wasn't forbidden from crossing into her sister's realm on the other side of the area. If she were to do that there would be dire consequences. The combination of water and fire…it just wouldn't be good in a place of pure magic. The area they were in was made purely of elemental magic and because this place didn't truly exist, natural laws shouldn't exist right? Wrong. The earth and air could fair well together seeing as where the earth ends the air begins, they had no qualms together. But her sister's water could douse her fire, and she really didn't want to know what would happen if she were put in that position. Water and fire could be very temperamental elements when combined. Back in the physical realm it wouldn't be a problem, but here it definitely would.

"I-I'm sorry." Sniffled Mizu-Kaze wiping her eyes. "I've stained the dress." She muttered her voice heavy with emotion.

Ka-Tsuchi laughed dryly. "It's just a piece of clothing. Nothing to worry about, as you'll soon see you have an endless supply of outfits."

Mizu-Kaze sobbed a bit more before forcing herself to pull together. "O-Okay, I'm ready. Please…continue."

"Well, everything was going fine for a few millennia. You and I were existing along with the kami that roamed the earth. At this point humans began to take form, no one truly knows how humans came to be. Not even you or I. For many millennia we coexisted in peace, but humans began to stretch out to new parts of the earth causing new religions to form. The kami were furious that people began to worship nonexistent beings. But that wasn't entirely true. The new religions just took our form of creation and created their own adaptation of us. We were granted new names, but were still the same. In Grecian times they recognized my earth form as the god Pan. My fire form had no deity behind it, but was something very sacred to the gods. My sun became a part of the god Apollo. You became Zeus, lord of the skies, and Poseidon, lord of the seas. Your moon became a part of the goddess Artemis." Said Ka-Tsuchi.

Slowly things were coming together. "Okay." She breathed, trying to remain calm. "So…I'm half of existence…the moon…water…air…you're my sister who balances what I lack, and I balance what you lack; we are connected in strange ways so that life cannot exist if one of us were to disappear…and my domain is the sky….anything else?" she said as nonchalantly as she could.

Ka-Tsuchi laughed dryly. "So much more. Before I continue with our history, I'll tell you about our seasons. As with everything else being split between the two of us, so are the seasons. I'll give you one guess as to what your main season is." Said Ka-Tsuchi with a smile.

Mizu-Kaze smirked already knowing the answer. "Winter."

"Correct." Nodded Ka-Tsuchi approvingly. "And of course, you and I being opposites, my season is summer. Even in this little domain it is so, why, you haven't even noticed the snow have you?" sure enough little delicate snowflakes were falling from the midnight sky. Mizu-Kaze laughed and rose from her ice throne, raising her hands the snow began to fall harder and she did a little twirl relishing in the feeling. Ka-Tsuchi could not help but smile and laugh with her sister. "Do you know why you love snow so much?"

"Why?" asked Mizu-Kaze still twirling and laughing. She felt so alive in that moment.

"It's because it is every part of you combined into one small flake. Your winter chill freezes your water and it falls from your sky. Snow once originated from the moon before you decided to share your most valuable possession with the rest of the world. Snow is every little part of you combined."

Mizu-Kaze slowed her little twirling and stared at her sister. "What happens in spring and autumn?"

Ka-Tsuchi smiled and stroked the hare in her lap. "We become truly equal with each other and with ourselves."

"What does that mean?" queried Mizu-Kaze.

"We share equally in spring and autumn, as neither of us is in our dominant season. They are the most pleasant times in the human and spirit world; it is neither too hot nor too cold. A perfect balance, like you and I. Because of this we become more in tune with our elements. Just wait until spring, your white hair will have beautiful light blue streaks literally moving throughout it, like it has river currents running through it. Your eyes will do the same; as your eyes now match the color of a snow cloud it joins with water and little spots of blue will begin to move within your eyes. The same happens to me as my earth grows stronger with the melting ice. Forest green begins to move within my red hair and eyes."

"I'll have blue in my hair?" asked Mizu-Kaze trying to imagine what blue hair would be like.

Ka-Tsuchi nodded. "Only small amounts, but it's there. It will look gorgeous I promise." She said making gestures with her hands. Mizu-Kaze scrunched her eyebrows together. She said the last bit almost like a teenager. It was rather amusing actually, one of the two highest deities' and half of everything that exists was talking like a teenager.

She smirked and went back to sit on her ice throne, frowning at how extravagant it was. "Why are you on a tree stump while I'm sitting on a throne?"

"Preferences. Set aside all the priceless outfits and huge home, I actually prefer the simpler things. When I first came here so long ago, I had a throne made completely of fire. I hated it though and changed it to match my earth form. A tree stump was the result, and I couldn't have asked for a better one. The ice throne has never even been touched until today; this is your first time here. I agree that it's a bit much." Mizu-Kaze nodded. It definitely was too much. "Change it then. Ask and it will be yours."

Mizu-Kaze closed her eyes and imagined she was sitting on a cloud. Suddenly, she was. A small white puff that proved solid. She chuckled once and relaxed into it. "Much better." She said wiggling to get situated. "Now I want you to tell me how I got to where I was. You said welcome home, where did I go? Why can't I remember anything?"

Ka-Tsuchi sighed, signaling that there was much more to come. "About three or four million years ago…something went wrong. A war broke out among spirit kind. They felt cheated that we were everything there was, and they were just taking care of little bits and pieces of us. That is the point of spirits; to guard a river, an ocean, a forest, a desert, anywhere. They didn't realize that without us they wouldn't exist, we are their life source; they claimed that we were too powerful. They were ignorant and lustful for power.

"It was the first time we have ever taken physical form. We were unfamiliar with these bodies. We took a matured version of the human as our psychical form. Yes, humans did exist at the time but they were thought no more than primates because they hadn't yet become intelligent. But we, we were like nothing they had ever seen. This did not hold them back for long though." Ka-Tsuchi sighed. "We were powerful, yes, but with physical form we could not use our power to its full extent, but we couldn't take elemental form to fight without destroying existence. It was a losing situation for us on either side. So…you did something crazy." Ka-Tsuchi paused.

"What did I do?" asked Mizu-Kaze impatiently after her sister didn't continue for a few seconds.

"You withdrew yourself from your moon, splitting yourself in half. You were now two separate entities. Your air and water form then sacrificed itself. No, that doesn't mean the air and water are gone, that's impossible seeing as we cannot truly die under any circumstances. Your physical form detached itself from its elemental form. I did not know this was possible, but you did it. You were left virtually powerless, but you knew what you were doing. One day you walked straight into the middle of a small army and you let them…" Ka-Tsuchi trailed off unwilling to finish. Mizu-Kaze needed no further explanation on that subject to understand what she was saying. "With your physical form now dead your elemental forms ran wild. The water didn't know what to do so hurricanes and tidal waves began to take form. Tornadoes ran wild; there were winters on end some years. The world was in chaos, you were not there to guide it. Finally it came to a point where the whole planet became so unstable it became a permanent winter. Ever heard of the ice age?" Ka-Tsuchi chuckled dryly. "Your moon wanted to help, but it was trapped in the sky. It could do nothing but watch. I suffered too, without you my earth became dry and thirsty in some places, and flooding in others. It was clear the world would not continue much longer if things were left to run as they were. The kami regretted the murder of your physical self almost instantly as it killed many of them off as their habitats were lost.

"In this time I began to lose hope. I couldn't bear it anymore and secluded myself to the sun for a few millennia, letting my elemental form take a consciousness of its own. I felt closer to you in the sun; after all you did give it as a gift to me. Then one day the moon all but took a knife to my throat to go back to earth. I realized that moping around would do nothing. I had to find a way to restore equilibrium.

"When I came back to earth I reheated it only to find that somehow humans had survived the ice ages. They were truly becoming intelligent beings. I realized that they would one day become capable of great things. They scared me and yet fascinated me. I knew what I would have to do then, I separated the world between human and kami, but left gateways open so the kami could easily return to their true world from their bonded places in the human world.

"I then dedicated most of my time to healing the earth, but there was only so much I could do without you truly being there.

"I eventually found love. Riku, the god of Mount Fuji **(*)**. He was exactly what I needed; while I was with him the pain of losing you would dull. He was incredibly powerful, and not to mention funny, charismatic, and so full of life. Something I had not experienced for so long." Ka-Tsuchi smiled wistfully. "It was truly meant to be. He was an earth spirit and therefore would match me perfectly. You see, it would not have been good for me to mate with a water or air spirit. Especially water, we would clash so much. Not to mention the chaos it would probably bring, water and fire were not meant to be together, or air for that matter. Water would douse my fire, and air would either blow it out or feed the flame. Keep that in mind when choosing a suitor sister. Only a _water_ or air spirit." Ka-Tsuchi said teasingly and with a knowing eye. Mizu-Kaze blushed white. _'She knows.'_ She thought to herself.

"He was incredibly intelligent. He suggested we reincarnate your physical form and when the time was right you would return to us." Ka-Tsuchi said. Mizu-Kaze began to grow excited, things were finally coming together.

"We took your physical form that had never decayed and cast a spell on it. Your body then faded from sight. We had no idea where you were or what had happened to you, but I could still sense you. I knew you would return someday.

"He said that while your body was gone your elemental forms would be less intelligent, almost childlike. They would be functional but without guidance it wouldn't know what to do. I couldn't have a repeat of the ice ages happening, so with permission of your elemental form I created the Yuki-Onna. She was only to ever exist in the human world and take care of winter there. Winter in the spirit world could only be truly controlled by you.

"I realize now I may have been too harsh on the Yuki-Onna. I shunned her from the spirit world as I knew she wasn't the true goddess of winter. In time winter had come to a complete standstill in the spirit world. It entered a permanent summer state.

"The Yuki-Onna took to roaming the highest and lowest points of the earth creating what is now known as the north and south poles. She eventually went back to Japan and two human men caught her there. She breathed on one and killed him. The other she fell in love with and had several children. When the human died she was so distraught she secluded herself to her palace in the North Pole. The children grew up strong and healthy, and thousands of years and several generations later a human by the name of Yuuko was born; the last known descendant of the Yuki-Onna.

"This was to be the woman who would give birth to you, but you are not truly her daughter. You are connected to the human world in more ways than one. On July 21st 1969 man stepped foot on the moon and left their footprints on its surface forever, bonding a bit of you to the human world. You were destined to be born into human kind then.

"There is truth behind every religion; this is where our influence on Christianity comes in. Christianity states that the son of their God was conceived and born to a virgin. When Yuuko Ogino was only seventeen she became pregnant as a virgin. That was your soul being implanted into her womb, but without a males part in it you could not form a body, so she…miscarried?" she said wondering if miscarried was truly the right word seeing as she had no body yet, but settled with it, "you without her even realizing it. Several years later she married a man named Akio Ogino and together they were very happy. They eventually conceived a daughter, you. You were born human and had no powers. I soon realized that you would live your whole life human and not even realize who you were unless I intervened. So I manipulated Akio's boss and gave him a promotion in his job, causing you to move to the nearest entrance to the spirit world.

"You came to the spirit world for the first time when you were ten years old. Akio and Yuuko ate the foods of the spirits without permission and turned into pigs. With a little help from…a friend you made your way to the bathhouse where you work now and asked Yubaba for a job. I told her to be stubborn about it, she knew who you were but it wouldn't look right to others if she knelt at your feet immediately. She gave you a job; I told her I did not care at that time what name she gave you, only to make sure that when she took your human name to plant your true soul back in you. She did as I asked and while you were in the spirit world your spiritual self began to awaken.

"I did not want you to rush into things though, so I had to manipulate a few things to get your human parents out of the pig pen. After you left the spirit world I manipulated…a friend, into taking your memories away. Your spiritual self had begun to awaken and you needed time to mature so it didn't force itself on you. A part of your spirit self had stayed with you, and for the next eight years you unknowingly brought winter to the spirit world. I knew it was you, but the rest of the kami didn't. It would cause confusion and uproar if they found out the truth, they would demand you back, so I kept you my dirty little secret. I pretended that I was asleep for the next eight years when in all reality I just sat in my home and watched over you. One day you were in a very bad accident and you were seriously injured. I knew this was the time to have you begin your transformation from human to spirit once more.

"I awakened your dormant spirit and it forced your human self down until you blended. You will always have a small bit of human in you because of this. Do you remember the hangover? Spirits do not get them, Kamaji was right in saying it was something to do with humans. Oh, yes I was watching everything. I couldn't let my sister wander around clueless in a foreign land with no memory!

"When you awoke you had no recollection of the past eight years." She said the last part sourly. "That was not my doing; it was your human mind protecting itself from trauma. Three months passed and I grew impatient, I wanted to see my sister. One night when you went out jogging I called to your elements to bring you home. I may not be the air and water, but I do have small influences over them. Your human soul disappeared everywhere except inside you. There are canyons in the east where we store souls of the humans; yours no longer lies there.

"You were no longer the child of Yuuko and Akio Ogino. You never truly were to begin with."

"What do you mean? Of course I am the child of Yuuko and Akio!" cried Mizu-Kaze, she didn't understand why but she felt like she should defend them.

"No. The true child of Yuuko and Akio lies in Yuuko Ogino's womb. The one that should have been born eighteen years ago, but you were instead.

"When you came back here for the second time your entire memory was erased so you wouldn't have ties to the human world. You were a spirit. I took your memory completely away so you could slowly adjust to life here once more. I could not leave my home to come see you at the solstice ball, it would cause too much confusion with the kami. I sent my husband, Riku, to deliver the dress that you were to wear to Yubaba. I was not going to have my sister dressing like the rest of the bathhouse workers at her own ball! That's why you were in the very middle and the head of the fan dance to welcome the snow.

"But I grew impatient. I wanted to see you, so I created the charade of indian summer and came to get you. I did not, however, expect to find you being the center of attention with a girl looking like an eggplant in a block of ice." Said Ka-Tsuchi reproachfully. Mizu-Kaze smiled and laughed to herself.

"That wasn't my idea. You can thank Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi for that."

"Was he the one who put the A'Hatu paste in your hair?"

"Yes."

"So tell me, when do you think he will figure it out?"

Mizu-Kaze was confused. "What?"

"That you…you mean _you_ haven't even figured it out?"

"_What_?" pressed Mizu-Kaze

"Oh no. you're not getting this out of me!" she said throwing her hands up innocently. "This is going to be fun to watch."

Mizu-Kaze stared at her sister wide eyed. "Are you serious?"

"Mhmm." Hummed Ka-Tsuchi smiling. Mizu-Kaze sighed in frustration. Things were starting to come together only to have another wall thrown up.

"That brings us a full circle to where we are now." Finished Ka-Tsuchi. Mizu-Kaze could only gape. She took a deep breath in and tried to process the information. There was just so much. "Don't try to understand everything right now. I know it's a lot."

Mizu-Kaze nodded. "What now?" she shrugged her shoulders. She assumed she would no longer be working at the bathhouse; it wouldn't do for her anymore. She was the newly announced other half of existence.

"Now," began Ka-Tsuchi beginning to rise, placing the rabbit on the ground. Mizu-Kaze followed suit. "We will go back to the bathhouse. Have a feast. You will go to your new home, oh you'll love it! Then quite possibly, you will visit your old one in the human world to say goodbye."

Mizu-Kaze smiled, it all sounded very nice. Ka-Tsuchi looked at the sky once more. "How could I have been so stupid!" she muttered to herself. "We can't leave just yet, there's someone who has been waiting a long time to see you. Selena!" Ka-Tsuchi called towards the sky. Mizu-Kaze frowned at the foreign name, how was she ever going to say that? It was so different from her native tongue of Japanese.

"Seeehl-eeen-nah." She struggled to pronounce the name.

"The name is Greek; your moon form liked it from our Grecian times and chose it to name herself. It means moon. I use my Japanese name of Amaterasu, the sun goddess." She explained hastily.

Suddenly a figure appeared in the moonlight. She looked exactly like the other two girls in the small area except every part of her was stone white and had a luminescence to it. White hair, white skin, white lips, white robes, white eyes that held no pupils. If she didn't move, she could easily have been mistaken for a statue. "Hello Amaterasu." Selena greeted. Suddenly Ka-Tsuchi changed to match her sun form. She looked exactly like Selena; every part of her was bright orange and glowed.

Ka-Tsuchi/Amaterasu turned to look at Mizu-Kaze. "It is time you became whole again." She began, suddenly very regal. "Both of you hold your hands." Mizu-Kaze turned to stare at the all-white woman in front of her and instantly liked her. She grasped both of Selena's hands in her own. "Do you, my sister, Mizu-Kaze, accept Selena back into your life and become whole once more? Do you accept the burden of the moon?"

Mizu-Kaze knew there could only be one answer, it really wasn't even a choice. "Yes." a bright white light enveloped the two and Selena flowed into Mizu-Kaze. She smiled, she felt whole. Sure her memories were still gone, but she at least knew her past. She turned to face her sister who was back to her normal state. "What did you mean burdens of the moon?"

Ka-Tsuchi gave a sad smile "You cannot be the moon without having to join with it every now and then. During the full moon you will be forced to join with the moon, becoming whole with it. During a new moon, you will fall into a deep sleep that no one can wake you up from under any circumstances. It is the burden. I used to have to join with my sun at high noon every day! But then I learned how to separate myself from Amaterasu. I can do it without even thinking now. But it will take time for you to figure it out. I can't tell you how to escape it, you'll have to figure it out for yourself; it's just the way things have to be."

Mizu-Kaze sighed; she knew there would be a catch. She glanced around the area one last time. This place truly was magical. She glanced at the koi fish circling each other in the small pool around the orb of the four elements. "Which one am I?" she asked referring to the koi fish. She figured that if she was half of everything there was, why shouldn't she be one of the koi fish?

"We together are the white koi." She said.

"What's the black?" she asked, her eyebrows coming together in confusion.

Ka-Tsuchi frowned "Something else entirely." She immediately regained her composure. "Ready to go?" she asked stretching her arm halfway over the pool. She couldn't cross into her sister's small realm; though they could meet halfway in perfect harmony.

"I can come back to this place right?" Mizu-Kaze said, already feeling nostalgic towards the place.

Ka-Tsuchi smiled. "Why sister, you can do whatever you want." The new Mizu-Kaze smiled and reached out over the pool to catch her sister's hand in her own. A bright flash signaled their exit.

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><p>The Yuki-Onna paced back and forth on the ice floors of her bed chamber in palace of the North. She knew her counterpart had been awakened and that meant that winter would no longer be hers in the human world.<p>

She had been the one to control winter for millions of years, and now Mizu-Kaze would expect it back. _How dare she! _The Yuki-Onna thought. _I've been the one to watch over her precious winter for her, I'm more of winter than she is! What will I have when winter is taken from me? Nothing! _

It was true, she wouldn't have anything. Sure, she may become a snow or ice spirit. Maybe she would be bestowed the honor of being the winter breath, the icy chill in the winter air. But what was that compared to the true goddess of winter? First that bitch Ka-Tsuchi had created her only to shun her from the spirit world, and now the only thing worth existing would be taken from her by Ka-Tsuchi's sister. No, she couldn't let that happen!

She made her way over to the wall where a sword carved out of pure ice hung on a shelf. "It has been so long friend." She cooed to the sword. As soon as she placed her snow white hand on the hilt it screamed to her. _Kill, murder, vengeance!_

"Soon." she promised the sword swinging it around to test the balance.

Suddenly a young snow spirit walked into the room. "Yuki-Onna-Sama," she said timidly "your meal is ready." It was quite obvious that the Yuki-Onna was a feared lady. Ever since the human she had taken as a husband died she lost all interest in any form of love. Her heart coated itself in ice and she became cruel.

The Yuki-Onna turned around slowly and gave a smirk that soon turned into a malicious grin. She twisted the sword around its hilt and with all her force she threw the sword at the young snow spirit. With deadly accuracy it struck its unsuspecting target straight in the chest, penetrating her heart. Black blood flowed out of the wound and stained her entirely white body. With a shriek the young girl doubled over and faded from existence. With nothing no longer there to support it the ice sword clattered to the ground. The Yuki-Onna went over to the sword and picked it up. Wiping the blood off the length she thought to herself, hoping somehow that Mizu-Kaze would hear her. _Be prepared Mizu-Kaze, that was just a taste of what's to come for you. I will make sure it's not as quick a death for you_.

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><p><strong>If you have not yet read <strong>_**The River Will Guide You Home, **_**a new one shot I just posted then I HIGHLY suggest you do read it! It's a spin off of this story and holds information vital for understanding future chapters. I tried to work it into a chapter of this story, but it was just too different and would have disrupted the flow.**

**Soooo if you had the patience to sit through all the information being poured out, then I hope you enjoyed that. I know it's a lot to kinda comprehend, so if you have questions don't hesitate to ask me!**

**(*) Riku is a boys name for earth in Japanese. Also I made up the thing about him being the god of mount fuji, the actual deity of mount fuji was a girl and has a really long name that I'm not going to spell XD.**

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><p><strong>UM WHOA! I don't know whether to be more excited about the fact that I had 23 REVIEWS IN ONE CHAPTER or that this story has breached the 100 review mark! I never expected this story to get so many readers! I'm truly blessed to have such amazing readers!<strong>

**Hall of fame:**

**Narai9 – I toyed with the idea of mother and daughter for a little bit, but realized I didn't like it at all. Soooo they're sisters, works much better with what I want to happen.**

**Thebiutifulworld – haha you'll just have to wait and see! Hmm if you read The River Will Guide You Home, a new oneshot I just posted that's a spinoff of snowflakes, you'll get a tiny bit of chihiroxhaku**

**Silver Sea Mist – Thanks so much! I found the prank rather fun to write :)**

** – thanks for reviewing! Haha that's exactly what I was hoping to have people think, I provided a few little clues as to their relationship but hoped people would steer more towards the winter goddess part of her so they would be surprised when I announced they're sisters.**

**Shiori Kuroba – thanks for reviewing! ! Hmm if you read The River Will Guide You Home, a new oneshot I just posted that's a spinoff of snowflakes, you'll get a tiny bit of chihiroxhaku, hope that'll sedate you for a little bit! And well, her memory's back! sorry didn't get to haku in this chap, just gotta tackle one thing at a time XD**

**The Lifeless girl - Thanks! I hoped it would take people by surprise.**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – Thank you! And you're welcome about your story, it was very interesting :)**

**Jade Mahoneysuckle – Thank you SO much! That really means a lot. Haha! I was confused when you first said I haven't updated in forever cuz I had just updated. But to make something clear I update frequently! At one point I updated this fic daily, but school sucked me back in so that was no longer possible. The longest I've waited between updates is one week. I update every Saturday for this fic.**

**Elivira – Haha Thanks!**

**Miko Potter – Haha darn! I was hoping to catch everyone by surprise XD but I knew some people wouldn't be fooled. Haha shirtless haku is pretty awesome! I liked writing Haku like this, it was a new side of him for me to experiment with. Thanks and you're welcome!**

**Kezz dog – thanks! And more there is :)**

**PiiXXiiEE – haha no, I drew a stick person the other day *that's the most I'm capable of drawing* and someone asked me if it was a bed post…haha yes she does!**

**FlutterbyBella – haha no you're not stupid! You did exactly what I hoped for! I hoped it would take people by surprise XD thanks for reviewing.**

**Trinion – haha thanks! I hoped it would take some people by surprise :)**

**Fish – haha good! I was hoping some people would suspect a relationship between them, but I was hoping people would be taken by surprise too! Whoa, loads of questions and I'm really happy that you're somewhat confused by the whole thing *no offense lol* it just means I'm doing a good job of leaving you hanging, after all that is what I do best. Haha I understand where you could have been confused, but EVERYTHING *save a few small details* was explained in this chapter. I hope I answered all your questions and thanks for the review!**

**Asumi-chan – of course! I always read all my reviews, and look back on them when I run out of inspiration for motivation to keep writing! I hope I answered your question! Also about him warming up to her, I figured that after she was avoiding him for a few days his dragon instinct would just sscream at him to get the freaking girl without his consent lol. **

**Iluvorangesanffanfics – twins, well sorta. Haha I have two sisters, and we look absolutely nothing alike. Well we all have brown hair and one has the same eye color as me, but other than that we don't really have any similarities. Haha an eggplant was exactly what I was going for, I was happy someone caught that!**

**kasumi-kimi – of course I'll finish! I would never leave a fic hanging :)**

**FrancescaMaria – thank you so much!**

**** - ** yep you were a hundred! Haha I can't wait to see how Rin will reply to it either, I'm just gonna write the funniest thing that comes to my mind XD**

**Trisanor – thank you so much! Haha isn't everyone waiting for him to realize it? Even I, the author, am waiting! But the way I figure it is he doesn't realize there's any way she could be a spirit, so that automatically excludes Mizu-Sen from the equation, he's just really distraught about the loss of Chihiro that's all he can think about and he can't realize what's right in front of him. Thanks so much! I try to have my writings be original.**

**3wordsaren'tenough – thanks so much! Haha isn't haku getting on everyone's nerves by now? XD**


	17. I Remember

**I would suggest you read and review The River Will Guide You Home before reading this chapter. There are mentions of it in this chapter.**

**Also I have a feeling I might get some flames for this chapter XD**

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><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>

**I Remember**

**Footfalls echo in the memory**

**Down the passage which we did not take**

**Towards the door we never opened**

**~T.S. Eliot**

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><p>The two arrived back in the bathhouse not a moment later. All the kami were still bowing, it was as if they had never left, which they truly hadn't. Nothing in the scene had changed an inch; the only changing that had happened was internally in the newly found Mizu-Kaze.<p>

Ka-Tsuchi hid the personality she used with her sister and put on an air of propriety, exactly what her loyal subjects expected her to be. "Rise!" she commanded happily raising her arms. "I'd like you all to welcome home my sister, Mizu-Kaze." A small murmur broke out throughout the crowd. A chorus of _what_? And _sister_? Echoed off the walls. "Yes, she is my sister." Insisted Ka-Tsuchi. "Together we are yin and yang. She is water and air, the other half of my soul. Together we make existence." She said condensing _much_ of the details she had told Mizu-Kaze. "Look at her. We are identical!" the kami then saw this, and though they didn't fully understand it, they bowed low. Ka-Tsuchi brought her hand to her forehead, had she not just told them to _rise_? The kami truly could be foolish sometimes.

"Yubaba, I believe a feast is in order." Said Ka-Tsuchi turning towards the bowing crone.

"Y-Yes Lady Ka-Tsuchi." She stuttered. It was a spectacular sight to see Yubaba truly afraid of someone. The old crone got up and started barking orders to random kami; her fingers were flying every which way setting up tables and what not's.

Ka-Tsuchi turned to her sister "Are you ready for what's to come?"

Mizu-Kaze sighed "I kind of have to be don't I?"

Ka-Tsuchi smiled "But_, are you ready_?"

Mizu-Kaze thought about it for a moment before deciding on "No."

Ka-Tsuchi smiled even wider. "And it is for that very reason I know you are." She took her sister's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Stay humble, it's what will keep you grounded with all the kami practically worshipping your bath water."

Mizu-Kaze laughed at that. If only the kami knew this side of her sister then maybe they would not be afraid of her. Mizu-Kaze had a feeling that the only time Ka-Tsuchi was like this was when she was around Riku or her. "Why don't people know the fun side of you?"

Ka-Tsuchi's eyes began to gleam, "Because I don't want them to." Mizu-Kaze shrugged her shoulders, she figured it was none of her business.

"Um, _excuse me_!" demanded a voice. The two sisters turned to the source. "Sorry if I'm not exactly bowing at your feet right now Mizu-Sen, or should I say Mizu-_Kaze_," she corrected "and even though you're now an all-powerful deity, you still turned me indigo and green!" said a fuming Rin.

Ka-Tsuchi and Mizu-Kaze looked at one another and it took all their will power not to double over laughing at Rin's expense. "It was…"

"It was _Haku's_ idea." She finished. "I don't care, _you_ still did it!" she said pointing a finger. The two deities were seriously close to cracking at that point.

"I-I'm sorry." Said Mizu-Kaze, her voice quivering as she was trying to hold back laughter.

"How about you _fix_ it!" demanded the furious voice.

Mizu-Kaze had to purse her lips together, causing her cheeks to puff out before she couldn't contain it any longer. She didn't even have to move a muscle for the wish to be granted. In the blink of an eye the eggplant-like girl had transformed back into the fair skinned brown hair weasel spirit she was before. Rin inspected her hair and skin and smiled. "Sorry about that." She smirked embarrassedly. By this time Mizu-Kaze and Ka-Tsuchi were leaning into each other for support. They suddenly realized who they were and where they were. They were not supposed to act like giggling buffoons; they were the highest deities in the worlds! They also realized that they couldn't care less. "Hey, I think someone needs to slap Haku." Said Rin gesturing to the bridge above the bathhouse floor. They tilted their heads upwards to see the slumped form of a dragon woven throughout the bars of the bridge. He had passed out and turned into his dragon form! At this point Mizu-Kaze couldn't take it any longer. She grabbed Rin and her sister's wrists and pulled them out of the large room that was beginning to be transformed into a banquet hall.

They found refuge in a small chamber where they collapsed on the floor. "Did you see him!" guffawed Mizu-Kaze. This only caused a larger chorus of giggles from the other two girls. It just wasn't every day you see a dragon passed out on a bridge.

"Hello girls." Chimed in a crackly voice, scaring the wits out of everyone in the room. The voice chuckled.

"Granny!" cried Mizu-Kaze getting up to throw herself into her Zeniba's arms.

"Oh it's good to see you dear!" said Zeniba returning the embrace gently.

"What are you doing here?"

"To see you of course! It's not every day my adoptive granddaughter learns learns her real identity. I knew it would be difficult for you to understand and I wanted to be here to try to help, although it certainly seems you're doing a fine job of it yourself." Appraised Zeniba.

"I missed you." said Mizu-Kaze. It had only been a few days since she had left Zeniba's care, but she truly had missed her.

Zeniba chuckled. "And I you. Oh it's so good to have you back Chihiro."

"ZENIBA!" screamed Ka-Tsuchi aghast. Mizu-Kaze stepped back and gaped. "You weren't supposed to tell her." she spit angrily. "I wanted to see how she would figure it out on her own, and I wanted to see how long the dragon could remain ignorant!"

"Oops." Said Zeniba nonchalantly, she obviously didn't care one bit. With that she took her leave with a smug smile plastered on her face

"Oops is right." Said Ka-Tsuchi hotly. She walked over to her stunned sister, who was frozen on the spot. "Mizu-Kaze? Selena? Chihiro?" she said shaking her shoulders, calling out three of the many names her sister possessed; earning no answer.

Mizu-Kaze looked around the room slowly, seeing everything through new eyes; wiser ones. "I…remember." She broke into a smile. It was true, she did remember. Everything from her creation, to her time in the human world, her adoptive mother and father, her going to the bathhouse, Rin, leaving, the accident, _everything_. Everything except a certain green eyed dragon.

Ka-Tsuchi buried her face in her hand and cursed. Of course her sister would now remember _everything_ which meant her little game would be over. "Don't you dare say a word to him about this!"

"To who?" asked Mizu-Kaze a little surprised.

"To Kohaku!" said Ka-Tsuchi irritated.

Mizu-Kaze's eyes grew wide. She remembered _him_ now. She was so overjoyed! Her joy then grew to rage, how could he have not recognized her? "Why that little scaly…"

"Excuse me! But would someone tell me _what the hell is going on_?" demanded Rin with her hands on her hips.

"Rin!" shouted Mizu-Kaze running over to hug her childhood friend. In all actuality, Rin had been sort of a big sister to her. She would always look out for her and bring her food, if any of the kami tried to say anything bad about Sen behind her back she would ensure that they suffered some sort of misfortune.

Rin stood there in shock, pulling away from the smaller girl she held the girl at arm's length. "Who are you?" she asked cautiously.

Mizu-Kaze smiled to herself. "Some call me Selena, some call me Chihiro, most call me Mizu-Kaze…but you will call me _Sen_."

Rin stared at the girl in shock. Could this be the Sen? Rin looked the girl over; traditional pale Japanese skin, gray eyes, and chestnut hair with white streaks in it that glowed. Last time she checked Sen had brown eyes and brown hair. Then it clicked, she had the _exact_ same hair color as Sen did without the white. Add a little bit of baby roundness to the raised cheekbones and it was now clear to see. "SEN!" she screamed tackling the girl. "I can't believe it's you! How can my little sister…"

"_My_ sister." Interrupted Ka-Tsuchi, her tone steely.

"Hey, when she was last here I took her under my wing and considered her a little sister. Where were you? Sleeping? Ignoring her?"

Ka-Tsuchi's sunset eyes then took on an anger that would have put a mother lion protecting her cubs to shame. When she spoke it was much worse than it would have been if she had yelled. She spoke with the softness of the wind, barely audible, and so sickly sweet it could have been turned into candy. "I was never asleep. It was her choice what she did, and when she came here it was me bringing her back. Don't you…"

"HEY!" shouted Mizu-Kaze trying to break the girls apart. This was _nothing_ that should be fought over, it was rather childish really. "Stop it!" she commanded softer but with a firmness in her voice that neither two would have dared to refuse.

Rin and Ka-Tsuchi exchanged sheepish looks realizing how silly it was to argue over that. They were there to help her now, and that was what mattered. "So what now? We should tell dragon boy, put him out of his misery…"

"_That_ will be up to Mizu-Kaze." Said Ka-Tsuchi. They both turned to look at the flustered girl.

The words that Haku had spoken at the solstice ball rang in Mizu-Kaze's ears

_"…I would have kissed you if it were not for…" he paused closing his eyes. "someone else." She mentally slapped herself, of course there would be another girl waiting on him, he was too good to be true. "I have loved before, deeply. She was a small girl the last time we met, and we haven't seen each other since we were very small. But I know I love her, it has grown and flourished over the years. Then, about three months ago she…died." He sobbed quietly for a moment. "I thought I would never love again, but I recently found out there's a possibility that she could quite possibly be alive! She's my true love, I'm sure of it. If things were different Mizu-Sen, then maybe…but I have to find her if she's still alive."_

She shifted her kimono so she could get in a comfortable position to ready herself to sit on the floor. Once she did so she buried her face in her hands. Was she…could she be? "Am I…?" she said softly looking up at the two concerned faces, unwilling to finish the sentence. She didn't need to finish, they understood. They nodded their heads in confirmation. Mizu-Kaze wasn't sure what to feel…elation for sure! But…how could he have not recognized her? How could someone not recognize the person they claimed to be their true love?

"Don't take it too hard on him. He thought you were dead after all. Zeniba told him you were still alive but he was hesitant to believe her, he didn't want to be hurt any more than he already had been. He was so caught in his grief that he couldn't see what was right in front of him." Said Rin.

Mizu-Kaze rose and a smug smile stretched across her face. "Aren't people expecting us for a feast? Also I believe we have a dragon to wake up." She walked over to the door.

"Are you going to tell him?" asked Ka-Tsuchi. She knew that underneath the smile that was plastered on her sister's face, she was thoroughly pissed off. Ka-Tsuchi expected that her sister would yell at him for a bit and then kiss him and everything would be fine. But, as always, her sister just had to prove her wrong.

She turned around and innocently said "Why sister, why on earth would I do that?"**(*)**

* * *

><p>The tables had been placed in a design to represent a snowflake. The tables were all circular and branched out from a single table in the middle, which of course held the two ladies, Riku, and Haku. After Mizu-Kaze had managed to douse the dragon awake she had given him a condensed version of things. Just giving him the lowdown on the fact that she had found her sister once more and she was water and air. Leaving out some very specific details. She invited him to be her dinner date as four chairs had been set up at the head table for three obvious people, Ka-Tsuchi, Riku, Mizu-Kaze, someone of Mizu-Kaze's choosing.<p>

The dinner conversation had been polite and airy. Haku tried to hide his disappointment that his little joke against Rin had ended before it ever truly began.

Ka-Tsuchi and Mizu-Kaze kept exchanging knowing glances.

"What do you plan on doing after the dinner? You obviously won't be working in the bathhouse any longer." Said Haku to Mizu-Kaze

"Well…" she began, in all honesty she planned on returning to the human world to say goodbye to her 'parents', but she couldn't tell him that. "I will be returning to my home." It was the truth; she would be doing that after her visit from the human world. It was a beautiful place that she had truly missed.

"Where is your home?" asked Haku

Mizu-Kaze smiled wistfully, it had been so long. "Mount Fuyu." She answered plainly. "Right across from Mount Natsu, my sister's home." Haku frowned slightly, he knew that name. _Mount Fuyu_, where had he heard that name before? "Would you like to come?" she said interrupting his thoughts "I have a library there with a vast amount of information…it may just have answers to some things you're searching for…" she trailed off, but the message was clear.

His face lit up, he could possibly find some things about Chihiro "I would like that very much. I would just need to tell Yubaba…"

"Tell me Kohaku, exactly how old are you?" interrupted Ka-Tsuchi vehemently.

This question caught him off guard; she had barely talked to him the whole dinner. "Well, being a bonded river spirit we don't usually keep a very good track of our age. But I would say in human years I am around the age of three to four million years old."

"So not young not old." Said Ka-Tsuchi. There were some spirits who were still around that were first generation spirits, the ones that came directly after the twins, that had been alive for billions of years. Then there were the newer spirits being created every day. Haku nodded. "And now tell me Kohaku," she began to intently stare at him "would you consider yourself an intelligent being?"

Haku was taken aback at this. He looked at Mizu-Kaze who merely shrugged her shoulders innocently before picking up her chopsticks and tending to her rice. "Well…I do consider myself to have a great amount of knowledge. River spirits do tend to be eager learners, and from my time with Yubaba I have learned a lot of magic."

"Yes or no?" Ka-Tsuchi asked never breaking her gaze from the uncomfortable river spirit. Telepathically the sisters were laughing with one another.

Haku took a few seconds before deciding "Yes."

Ka-Tsuchi stared at him blankly for a moment, he felt as if her red eyes were staring straight into his soul. "Interesting." She said dryly before switching the subject to how the light spirits were gaining a rather sour attitude lately. It was all the girls could do to contain their laughter to their telepathy.

* * *

><p>Mount Fuyu truly was a beautiful place, from what Haku could see from the inside of his new bedchamber with the curtains drawn. He had been instructed by a pure white snow spirit to stay in his chambers until otherwise directed.<p>

Haku grew impatient. The time spent sitting on the plush blue sofa was time he could be spending researching how Chihiro's soul could have disappeared and her still be alive! He sighed in frustration, deciding that sitting was just adding to his nerves he stood and began to pace the floors. He wasn't sure how long passed after that, but he was surprised his sandals hadn't yet left tread marks on the floor. It was one of the plainer rooms in her home, blue walls with white designs carved into it, a matching bed and sofa, and wood floors.

Suddenly something caught his eye, a small indention in the wall furthest from the closed windows. He walked over to it and eyed it curiously. Running his fingers over the small indentation he felt a surge of magic run through him. Pulling back shocked he stared at it for a moment. It was just a small indentation in the wall, or was it? He touched it once more, not retracting his hand when he felt the surge of magic, and returned some of his own magic to the wall. Once he did so the wall opened to reveal a concealed room.

"Well how would I tell them without…" a voice said. Noticing they had an intruder on their conversation Mizu-Kaze and Ka-Tsuchi whipped their heads around to see the stunned form of Haku.

The sisters just stared at him; Ka-Tsuchi was clearly peeved. "Uh…sorry, I didn't mean to intrude…there was an indentation in the wall and it took me here."

Ka-Tsuchi huffed. "We'll take care of that later. Sister, say what you need to to him then meet me…" she trailed off. Mizu-Kaze knew where she was talking about and nodded. Ka-Tsuchi glared hotly at Haku for a moment before turning around and leaving.

Mizu-Kaze said nothing for a moment. She was virtually motionless, but not a single part of her was still. Some sort of magic gave her the fluidity that her whole body was currents. Her simple royal blue kimono rippled subtly and her hair always had a light flow to it. How had he never noticed the true beauty of this girl? Of course he thought of her as beautiful, there was no denying it. But…could someone truly be that beautiful? She was ethereal in a plain way, when you subtracted her hair she had a completely ordinary face. Almond eyes, a straight nose, medium lips with a cupid's bow, and high cheek bones. Completely ordinary features that would not have stood out in a crowd, and yet that made her all the more beautiful in his eyes. He caught himself staring and blinked for a moment "Uh…sorry." He muttered uncomfortable rubbing the back of his neck.

Mizu-Kaze smirked. "It's fine, I just have to leave for a day or two."

This shocked Haku. "Where do you need to go?"

She pursed her lips, an obvious sign she would not tell him. "I'll be back in a day's time." She promised, giving no further information.

"You won't be in danger will you?" he asked. He felt very protective of her, an instinct he had learned to accept.

She smiled. "Unless the world was ending, then I don't think I could ever truly be in danger. Maybe not even then." She shrugged.

He sighed. He had forgotten how truly powerful she was. Of course people looked up to Ka-Tsuchi as a source of power and a figurehead to turn to in times of trouble, but as time went on people forgot that she was truly the very essence of them all.

He looked around at the room. It was very dusty and the walls were around twenty feet high. The room was dark as all the curtains were drawn. Books were placed on shelves as far as the eye could see. He now understood what Mizu-Kaze said about a vast supply of knowledge. "The library?" he asked.

Mizu-Kaze rolled her eyes at his dimwittedness. "Of course it is, what else would you call a room with millions of books?" she said sarcastically, then regained herself. "Everything in this room is to your advantage, use all of it." She said gesturing around.

There were so many books! How could he ever find what he was looking for in all this?

"I have to be leaving now." She said making a hasty exit towards the door, pausing to rub her hand on the door hinge. "You know…as long as I've been alive, which is a _very_ long time, I've never actually seen this building."

Haku raised his eyebrows in question and surprise. "What?"

"Something…happened a long time ago. I was not able to return here. Of course this was back before I had first taken physical form. My sister and I were living contentedly in our mountains as a part of it. Once she took physical form for good she built this home in honor of me." She smiled before walking through the door.

Haku sighed and shook his head. There was just so much to comprehend. He walked to the far end of the room and picked a book at random_, I have to start somewhere_ he thought to himself. The book was obviously very old. He picked it because when he first asked about a soul disappearing from the canyons, Yubaba's reply was that it was very old and cryptic magic. The older the book the better his chances.

He groaned as he stared at the first page. There it was, written in perfect kanji, was the very thing that had been haunting him for days on end. The lullaby of the Yuki-Onna.** (*)**

* * *

><p>Mizu-Kaze stepped through the barrier that had been created by her sister into the human world. It was exactly as she remembered it. She stroked the red plaster on the side of the archway and smiled. She remembered the last time she was here she was literally forced through the barrier by her elemental form.<p>

Walking through the woods barefoot she smiled at the snow. There was something different about it in the human world. It was almost as if the snow held emotions here, and it was angry. Snow had always loved her in the spirit world, caressing her every step. Here it wanted nothing to do with her. She scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. Why was it acting so temperamental with her?

Once she made it out of the woods she realized she was sticking out like a sore thumb. She was wearing a simple traditional kimono with a white obi; no one wore kimonos in the human world any more. Japan had caught up to modern times. It was either the kimono that was drawing attention, or the fact that her hair was still glowing. _Dammit_. She thought to herself. She immediately scolded herself for cursing, even if internally. She had never cursed a day in her existence, that was until Rin forced her evil ways on her. Couldn't her sister have at least put some A'Hatu paste on her? She immediately shook the thought out of her mind. There was no way she ever wanted A'Hatu paste anywhere on her body _ever_ again!

As if her prayers to….who? Herself? Had been answered a scarf appeared out of thin air. She gratefully wrapped it around her head and continued the track into town.

She trudged her way up the large hill, spying the house that she had lived in for the past eight years, her heart sped up. She wasn't sure exactly how to tell them. You don't just go to someone and say_, 'I'm not really you're daughter, I'm an all-powerful entity who's half of existence, but my physical form was murdered in order to stop a war that would have ended life as we know it so I was reincarnated into your daughter, but I know who I am now so thanks for taking care of me, bye!'_ unless you seriously wanted to freak them out, or be taken to a psych ward. She and her sister were trying to think of something to tell them that would sound somewhat reasonable to human ears. Sure she would tell them that she was a spirit and couldn't live with them any longer, but the whole half of existence thing? That would be too much. Then Haku had sort of interrupted them and they were forced to stop. Now Mizu-Kaze would have to rely on instinct alone to get her through this.

Mizu-Kaze…no, Chihiro. Here she was Chihiro. She smiled; she liked that name itself better. Mizu-Kaze was her true name given to her at birth by her parents Izanami-no-Mikoto and Izanagi-no-Mikoto, but the name Chihiro was given to her by the people she was going to see. She decided that she would have only a select few call her Chihiro, she didn't want to lose the name. Of course when there would be balls in the celebration of her and her sister's seasons or just about anything else she would be referred to as Mizu-Kaze, or when she was in her moon state she would be Selena. Though hardly anyone knew of the existence of Selena. Ka-Tsuchi and Mizu-Kaze decided long ago to keep it secret that their parents had disappeared leaving the moon and sun to them. Who would call her Chihiro? Yuuko and Akio definitely. Haku too…Haku would definitely call her Chihiro. She might actually slap him across the face if he ever called her Mizu-Kaze after he found out who she truly was. She would want her adopted sister- the new child of Yuuko and Akio- to call her Chihiro if she were to ever visit.

She smiled. Chihiro. It fit.

Lost in her thoughts she didn't notice a girl jogging straight towards her, they almost crashed if Chihiro didn't side step fast enough. The girl stopped and huffed for a moment "Watch where you're going!" she said in a strange accent. The Japanese was perfect, but it was twisted by something foreign. An American? Upon further inspection this girl was clearly not of Japanese origin.

Her skin was as pale as milk and she stood very short. She looked only to be about five feet tall. She had medium brown hair tied back in a bobbing pony tail that ended about an inch below her shoulders. Her eyes were big, but not too big. The color was an oddity. A large ring of fey green that blended into earthy brown around her pupils. There were a few faded freckles splayed across her cheeks. She looked about fifteen or sixteen years old "Sorry!" said Chihiro.

The American girl rolled her eyes "Whatever" she said giving her a reproachful look.

"I really didn't mean to…"

"Whatever just watch where you're going…" the girl trailed off her Japanese and began muttering a few colorful English insults towards Chihiro.

Chihiro's eyes widened as she understood every word. Since when does she understand English? Sure when she was human she had taken classes in school as was mandatory, but she was pretty sure her teachers had never taught her curse words. She guessed that since she was a source of creation, she would not be hindered by foreign languages. She must be a new neighbor. She suddenly felt very sorry for Yuuko and Akio for having to deal with _that_. The American girl sneered and turned back to her jogging **(*)**. She forced herself to take a deep breath to calm herself; she would not let that _teenager_ get the better of her.

She continued down the snow covered sidewalk, edging closer to the blue house with every step she took. She was greeted with the wooden door that she had become so familiar with over the past eight years. _Don't be afraid_. The identical voice of her sister chimed in her head. They could communicate telepathically when they wanted to, but only if both parties were willing. Knowing her sister was right she raised a hand and hesitantly knocked on the door.

* * *

><p>The Yuki-Onna ran her hand lovingly over the ice blade of the sword. It screamed at her to use it, to draw blood with it, to kill. <em>Soon<em>, she promised. The details were coming together ever so lovely.

The full moon was in three days' time, that would be when they would attack. The Yuki-Onna was one of the very few people who knew of the burden of the moon. During the full moon Mizu-Kaze would be forced to join with her moon. Or rather Selena would. It didn't matter. The blood of the person who was trying to take her winter away is what she needed, names did not matter.

An air spirit came to the door of her chamber. Kei. A man who was level headed, stubborn, and greedy. Also the man who the Yuki-Onna had been using as a lover ever since the loss of her human. He pretended to care about her, but all he really wanted was her power and money. They suited each other perfectly; he gave her the false love and compassion her cold heart begged for, and she gave him high positions in the winter world and treasures as far as the eye could see. "Are you sure this is the smartest thing to do? Are you not being rash in your decision making? You know your lullaby, you know your fate if you are to do this." Warned Kei. Of course he cared nothing for her wellbeing, but if she were gone where would he get his next stock pile of gold from?

The Yuki-Onna turned around to stare at him through steely gray eyes. "Oh no," she began sweetly. It was sickly coming from her; nothing could be that sweet without having a core of poison, "I am definitely not acting rashly." She assured "I know exactly how I will do this. She will be in her moon when we attack. I have assembled a small army to destroy everything she holds dear. Her home in Mount Fuyu will burn down in flames as will her human home. The perfect insult, using her sister's own element to act against her. I care nothing of what happens to Ka-Tsuchi, though if we somehow manage to wound her then I will be thoroughly happy. Yes, I know my lullaby. I sang it every night to soothe my human children to sleep; only they were too young to try to comprehend the words. But that's exactly it, it's a _lullaby_. It is nothing set in stone, I am master of my own fate, not a complex mass of words!" she said growing angrier by the second. The sword in her hand only seemed to encourage it.

Kei sighed. He knew she was stubborn enough to never back down from anything once she set her mind to it. The Yuki-Onna turned away from him and let her true agony show for a moment, only for one moment though. All the anguish and hatred she felt towards the world would escape onto her facial features for one second. Pulling herself together she set the sword back on the shelf. She turned around seductively and walked over to Kei. Placing her arms around his neck she kissed him fervently.

Kei smiled into the kiss. Power and riches were great things to leech from the Yuki-Onna, but when he got sex out of it was just a lovely bonus. As long as the Yuki-Onna survived, he would have whatever he wanted. And for what? The only reciprocation on his part was to pretend like he actually cared about her, and on the lucky occasion, sex.

The Yuki-Onna was fully aware of Kei's little game. She had no problem with it of course. Power and money were nothing compared to the temporary release from her tortured memories she would get from intimate with him. He could make her forget, and that was what she needed the most. After this she would go back to being cruel and cold. She might even take a few more lives of spirits just to amuse herself. But for right now she would forget. _Make me forget_. She pleaded internally. **(*)**

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks to everyone who'se reading this! I'm glad the majority of you *somewhat* survived the last chapter! I know it was a ton, but hey, it had to be done *shrugs shoulders*<strong>

**And before I get flames over this read the asterisks!**

**(*) Before I totally get flamed for that I want to clear some things up. First, Chihiro is seriously pissed off at Haku right now; I mean who really wouldn't be? Say your true love didn't recognize you? Would you immediately be like, **_**oh it's okay, you forgot me and totally refused me and tried to search for me but I was right fucking in front of you! *kiss* **_**No you wouldn't, you would be thoroughly and rightfully pissed off. Also I kind of imagine Chihiro might be a little scared. It's one thing to have a crush on someone and want them, but when they say they like you back, it becomes something wholly different. Also, I just kinda wanted to do it that way. So after this, if you still choose to send me death threats, be my guest.**

**(*) Betcha almost forgot about the lullaby didn't ya XD**

**(*) I know what you're thinking. This is the most illogical story ever. I mean come on, an american jogging? Yeah right! Well believe it or not, somewhere deep down on the endangered species list we are still surviving! We are near extinction, but with the help of your monthly gift we can save the American Joggers! Please call today and save the American Joggers species! Brought to you by the get rid of obesity foundation.**

**(*) What are your thoughts on the Yuki-Onna? Sadistic bitch or someone who's lost their way?**

**Also I realized that I didn't really portray Ka-Tsuchi as I really envisioned her to be in the last chapter, but I didn't get a chance to really develop her character. I imagine Ka-Tsuchi to be almost like a teenager in a way. I imagine her hot headed but sweet, and she loves jokes! She's almost childish around the people she feels close to, but will immediately become someone very calm and collected and polite around everyone else. She's fiercely loyal to those she loves and follows through when she sais she will do something. She takes a while to forgive something, as do most teenagers. She's easy to set off on a rampage. Just imagine a teenager who can be serious when the time calls for it.**

**And just to taunt you, I have the whole story already finished on my computer XD but you'll keep getting the chapters every Saturday. I'm just evil like that :) yep this story is written to the end, it's twenty chapters including an epilogue. So that means this story won't be finished for another, uh…three weeks! Even though it's already done…ugh this is messing with my head.**

**So I'll make you a deal. The more reviews I get, the faster ill get the chapters to you!**

**REVIEW PLEASE! **

**Okay what happened? I went from 23 reviews to eight, did my writing suck last chapter or something? LOL JK XD**

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**Hall Of Famers:**

**Skye Wolfe – yeah I understand what you mean about a lot of information, because, well it was a lot of information lol! I hope it wasn't too confusing, I just couldn't find another way to get all of it out there without doing well…that. Oh and thanks :)**

**Fish – yeah everything's explained! Glad you liked it! And yeahh they are a bit slow! Oh and thanks for noticing the typo! I fixed it :)**

**FlutterbyBella – here it is!**

**Jikarashino-Haruko – yeah sometimes my imagination is just so large I don't know what to do with all the ideas I have! Thank you sooo much for that! I actually hope to be an author someday, but for right now I will be wasting my time away on fan fiction developing my writing skills :) I think they have really improved over the course of this story. My week is going fine, busy as always. Hmm, I can read just about any book and enjoy it. Though I will admit I'm not a fan of mystery books, I generally like books in the action and fantasy variety. Honestly I don't really read for inspiration, but for enjoyment. My favorite books are the Harry Potter series, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus series, and The Hunger Games trilogy (which I'm currently rereading for the fourth time lol)**

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**Silver Sea Mist – thanks I've updated! Yeah I know it was a TON**

**Woodswolf – Let me first off say thanks for all the reviews! Second, OH MY GOD THEY MAKE ME LAUGH SO HARD! Bathroom. Five Minutes. I was in the middle of class when I read that review on my phone and I started laughing so hard I thought I was seriously going to pee my pants! People looked at me very funny, but omg it was so worth it! Seriously take your arm, RIGHT NOW, DO IT, reach it across your body, DON'T QUESTION ME JUST DO IT, and pat yourself on the back. Seeeeee that wasn't so bad now was it?**


	18. Full Moon Rising

**A/N: yeah I don't usually do these before chapters, but this one is just to clear up some slight confusion that may pop up in this chapter. When the writing is following Chihiro's story, she will be referred to as Chihiro. If I'm telling the story of someone (such as Kei, or Haku) who only knows her as Mizu-Kaze at the moment, she will be referred to as such. Just to clear up any confusion, they're the same person, but it wouldn't make sense for Haku to be referring to her as Chihiro as he doesn't know it's Chihiro, he only knows her as Mizu-Kaze. Make sense?**

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><p><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

**Full Moon Rising**

"**In the full moons light I listen to the stream**

**And in between the silence hear you calling me**

**But I don't know where I am and I don't trust who I've been**

**And If I come home how will I ever leave"**

**-"Full Moon" by the Black Ghosts**

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><p>The door opened lightly with a click. Chihiro managed to stifle a gasp at the sight of her human mother. The last time she had seen her she had a perfectly round face and her hair was full of luster. Now the pale skin clung to bones and the hair looked limp and lifeless. What had happened to her? Dark circles lined what used to be radiant eyes that shined with joy, now they were hollow and empty.<p>

"Can I help you?" Yuuko asked timidly, taking in the sight of the woman.

Chihiro unwound the scarf from her neck and head and let her long hair tumble down her back. The glow illuminated the doorway. Yuuko gasped as she realized she must be in the presence of a very powerful kami; quite possibly even a goddess. Hastily she brought her hands together and gave a respectful bow. "No, you do not bow to me." Said Chihiro, quoting her own sister's words. Chihiro frowned slightly; it was Ka-Tsuchi speaking those words, not her. _Stop it!_ She internally snapped at her sister. Ka-Tsuchi gave no retort, but Chihiro could feel the presence in her mind grow smug.

Yuuko jerked her head upward. A goddess was telling her not to bow? "Who are you?" asked Yuuko hesitantly.

"May I come in?" asked Chihiro politely avoiding the question.

"O-Of course!" Yuuko immediately stepped away from the doorway. Who was she to refuse a goddess? Chihiro smiled to her human mother and walked in the door. The house looked exactly the same, save for the slight clutter that seemed to have piled up. It was obvious not much cleaning had been put into the house lately. Out of habit she went over to the couch, plopped down and sank into the cushions. She tried to swing her feet under her but was restricted by the kimono.

Realizing her error she began to apologize "Oh, I'm sorry, I should have asked." She must have looked very rude. Of course her human mother didn't recognize her as being her daughter, what with the new hair and eyes. Here and now she was a stranger in her own home.

Yuuko's eyes grew wide and raised her hands and shook them. "Oh no no!" she said fretting "My home is your home."

Chihiro smiled. The familiar thumping of footsteps echoed off the walls as the heavy frame of Akio bounded its way down the stairs. "Who is it?" he called.

Yuuko stared at the girl questioningly for a moment, raising her eyebrows in silent question of a name. After a moment when Chihiro didn't reply Yuuko called "I think you'll have to see for yourself!"

Not a moment later the chunky face of Akio peered around the corner. He was preoccupied with rolling his business shirt cuff up; he was obviously on his way to work. He looked up for a brief second, and he had to do a double take at the figure on his couch. He could only stare and gape, his mouth hanging wide open. Yuuko had to walk over and close it for him; that shook him out of his shock. "Uh…" he began, unsure what to say to the strange girl in front of him.

Chihiro smiled at the both of them. Though a little frazzled, they were still the dysfunctional parents she had loved throughout the past eighteen years. "Please, sit." She said gesturing to two recliners. It felt so strange to talk to her human parents like that. So formal and polite, no familiarity.

They did as she said. Akio shifted in his recliner uncomfortable; if he didn't leave soon he would be late for work. But this was quite possibly a goddess in front of him. Quite frankly when it came down to it, all thoughts of work would immediately disappear if a goddess showed up at your doorstep.

Sensing his distress Chihiro said "Don't worry about work. Everything has been taken care of." She gave a reassuring smile. Akio and Yuuko gave each other quizzical glances, but neither said a word. They would let the goddess speak first. Chihiro sighed; she knew something would have to be said sooner or later. "So, as I've…heard lately, you are missing a daughter."

The humans' eyes grew wide and both straightened and stiffened in their chairs. "Yes." whispered Yuuko. Could the goddess possibly bring news of her? Was Chihiro okay? Was she dead?

"I can assure you, your daughter is fine." She nodded.

Yuuko got up from her chair and started to walk towards the goddess, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "How is she? Why did she leave? Where is she?"

"Closer than you think." Chihiro muttered so low it was barely audible to human ears. Yuuko stood there, palms held open to her. The message was clear. _Tell me, please. I need this more than you know. Please._ Chihiro opened her mouth to say something, but immediately felt her mouth run dry. She couldn't speak. She stared into the hollow face of her human mother, the pain that resonated deep within her black eyes rang clear. She was the cause of it. She could no longer stand to be held captive by the stare of Yuuko. "Excuse me." she breathed darting off the couch and towards the kitchen.

Dishes were piled high in the sink; they obviously had been neglected for quite some time. Tea. That was what she needed. A steaming cup of tea could always calm her nerves, just like it did at Granny's. She smiled to herself at the memory of Zeniba's cottage. She had turned her own tea to ice, but of course that was back when she had no idea who she was or the power that she held. It was so hard to believe that it was only two weeks ago. She had been in the spirit world for nearly three weeks. In that time so much had changed!

Two weeks had changed everything she knew about existence. She loved her new life in the spirit world of course, she loved her sister, she loved Rin, and she thinks she might love Haku. She craved a sense of normality, but of course being one of the elemental twins, as she had recently learned the spirit world had nicknamed them, she could never have a truly normal existence. There would always be spirits in trouble, always humans trying to destroy the bonded places of spirits, always issues she would have to sort through. Not to mention the dreaded full moon in three days, when she would have to join with it for its duration. She honestly had no idea what to expect. Before she cut ties with her elemental and moon form she had never truly had to join with the moon the way she did now. The moon and her elements were always a part of her that were interconnected with one another creating perfect harmony. But ever since her reincarnation she would have to join with it once a month. She sighed.

She fished the tea kettle out from underneath a cabinet she had dug in thousands of times before, filled it with water, placed the tea bag in and ignited the flame. She rested her elbows on the countertop, placing her head in her hands she deeply inhaled.

"You should let me do that." Said the voice of Yuuko who was just entering the room.

"No, it's fine." Insisted Chihiro, unwilling to look at her.

"I'm really sorry, please forgive me, I can tell you it makes you uncomfortable, but please, where is Chihiro?" she pleaded.

Chihiro forced herself to look at the broken woman. A small smile that didn't reach her eyes worked itself onto her face. "You mean you don't recognize me?"

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><p>Everything was coming together nicely. The Yuki-Onna had assembled several sections of a small army; each designed to target a different area of Mizu-Kaze's life. The bathhouse, her home in Mount Fuyu, and her home in the human world. She had only assigned four or five to the human world; even then it was more than generous. Four spirits to destroy one human home, it was like child's play.<p>

Selena would be watching the whole scene from her moon and could do nothing about it! Part of her own soul would be her prison.

The Yuki-Onna didn't care how many lives were lost, as long as winter remained hers. Because of this she had taken to intense sword training. Several ice spirits had been ordered to her chamber for target practice. They all knew they were being summoned to their deaths, but what could they do? If they tried to run away they would have been killed anyway in an even more gruesome death than they were about to face. They were lined up in military format and nearly all were quivering in fear. Some stood with steely faces, showing no emotion. Some would rather die than be in the Yuki-Onna's service a day longer; than to be a slave. The Yuki-Onna grasped the pure ice hilt in her hand and threw it to hit a spirit square in the chest. Black blood stained the girl's luminescent white body. The last spirit collapsed to the floor dead as the sword dislodged itself from her body and flew back into the Yuki-Onna's hands.

A shuffling noise sounded from the entrance of the chamber and without thinking twice the Yuki-Onna thrust it into the door frame. Missing Kei by a hair.

"I'll ask you one last time. _Don't do this_." Warned Kei, leaning against the door frame completely unfazed by fact that if the sword had landed an inch closer it would have quite possibly taken his life. He waved his hand and the bloodied bodies disappeared from the floor.

The Yuki-Onna turned around and stared at him maliciously. "Don't try to stop me."

"You can't win." He said bored. "There's no possible way she can die."

The Yuki-Onna shrugged it off. Of course there had to be a way. "I always win." She returned in the same bored tone. Kei rolled his eyes. "Go assemble a battle strategy for…something. I don't care what you do. Just leave me alone. I need time to think." She refused to look at him.

Kei sighed at her ignorance and walked out of the room; he knew there was no possible way Mizu-Kaze could be killed. This may very well be the death of the Yuki-Onna, that is unless Mizu-Kaze has mercy on her. From what he had heard of gossip, Mizu-Kaze was a gentle spirit. He highly doubted she could take a life. But even the gentlest of spirits could turn deadly when something they loved was in danger. Either deadly, or they would surrender wholeheartedly.

Which gave him the perfect idea.

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><p>Haku decided that what he needed the most in that moment was fresh air. Hours upon hours of empty reading to no avail. He was growing more and more frustrated with every book he flipped through. He had been thoroughly peeved about the lullaby of the Yuki-Onna incident; he had been trying to forget that. He knew he would never understand it, and yet there it was to haunt him.<p>

Of course there was absolutely nothing on Chihiro's soul disappearing. He found countless books on the canyons. Myths, legends, folklores, how the canyons came to exist, the souls stored there, but nothing on how they could disappear without someone dying.

The library was stuffy. It was the middle of the day and he was growing tired, but now that he had all this information at his fingertips there was no possible way he could sleep. He suddenly felt almost as if he were suffocating in the room, he slammed the book he was flipping through shut and ran through the door.

He had no idea where he was going, but he could feel something calling to him, so he followed it. Only a few spirits were awake at this time, scrubbing floors or polishing frames. They all stopped to bow at him; he paid no attention and continued to sprint through the halls. He eventually found a set of large double doors. He figured this was the entryway and he burst through them.

The sun beat high in the sky and warmed his body. He reveled in it only for a short time. Taking in a deep breath of fresh air he felt himself relax and take in the scenery. About twenty miles in the distance he could see the equally high peak of Mount Natsu, Ka-Tsuchi's home. The distance between the two mountains dipped into a low valley. The valley was hazy and when you looked hard enough you could faintly make out a human town, the fog was concealing the barrier between the human and spirit worlds.

Though it was snowing it felt relaxingly warm. He smiled and looked back to take in the full sight of Mizu-Kaze's home. It looked like a large Shinto temple with white walls and blue roofs. Different parts of the home rose to different heights giving it a very a-symmetrical feel. He immediately liked it. About ten feet away from the door ran a river and he immediately knew that was what had been calling to him. He, being a river spirit himself, was often influenced by other rivers too.

He kicked off his sandals and went to sit down on the river bank, dipping his feet in the water he relaxed into the currents. He exhaled deeply and stared into the water. He was expecting to see a rainbow of fish swimming, not a pair of crystal blue eyes staring up at him. He jumped out of the water in surprise.

_You are just fine where you were. I did not mean to scare you_. Said a voice in his mind. He dipped his feet back in and stared at the figure below the surface. A little girl who looked only to be about six years old was sitting on the riverbed, smiling up at him. She had skin paler than milk and light blond hair that whipped with the river currents. Her icy blue eyes held only mirth and sincerity; he had no reason to fear the girl. _I am Kiyoko_. Said the girl in a bell-like voice.

"Are you the spirit of this river?" asked Haku. "I did not mean to disturb you."

The little girl cocked her head to the side and gave him a quizzical look before placing a dainty pale hand over her mouth to stifle laughter. _I'm not the spirit, silly! You are!_

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><p><em>"You mean you don't recognize me?"<em>

All Yuuko could do was stare. What did she say? Did she really say what she thought she said? This….was Chihiro?

"Chihiro?" she whispered so quietly it was barely audible. The girl with gray eyes nodded. "No." shook Yuuko's head. "You can't be."

Akio walked into the room, "What's going on?" he asked.

"Hi Dad." Said Chihiro sadly.

Akio's eyes widened as he stared at the girl before him. Dad? "Who are you?" Akio asked hesitantly.

"She says she's Chihiro." Whispered Yuuko. Chihiro sighed. It really wasn't a wonder that they didn't believe her. They believed Chihiro to have solid brown hair and brown eyes. Not gray. Yes, before she went back to the spirit world she had white streaks in her hair, but they didn't glow the way they did now.

"I am Chihiro. Just not the Chihiro you remember." She insisted. "Sit down." She sighed gesturing to the table. They would have been more comfortable in the recliners in the living room, but to Chihiro it really didn't matter. She would be nervous no matter what, and she really didn't want to leave her tea. Yuuko and Akio glanced at each other and followed her orders. Suddenly an idea formed in her head, why hadn't she thought of this earlier? This could save so much time. She lowered the flame on the tea and walked over to the two confused humans. Placing one hand on either of their foreheads she instructed "Close your eyes and see me for who I truly am." They did so hesitantly. With that she projected an image of her human self into their minds. She showed them her with brown hair and eyes, then the eyes started to have gray creep into them. Slowly but surely it soon turned her whole eye gray. White streaks started to grow in her hair, and when the streaks were made they began to glow. Both their eyes snapped open. This was Chihiro!

Yuuko threw hair chair aside and launched herself into her daughter's arms and began to sob. Akio stood up and, not being a very touchy person, placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze as a sign of affection. "O-Oh…Chihiro!" sobbed Yuuko.

"It's me." Promised Chihiro in a whisper.

Yuuko pulled back a little to stare at her alleged daughter. She raised a hand and caught one of the glowing white locks in-between her thumb and forefinger. "How is this possible?" she whispered.

"This is going to take some explaining. It's going to be a lot to understand, but I'll tell you." she ushered them back to sit down. Sensing the tea was done she poured a cup for each of them, only then did she notice her human father had gained weight…a _lot_ of weight. For good measure she filled his cup to the rim. She could feel their stares bore into the back of her neck and she paled white.

"Chihiro, are you okay?" asked Yuuko noticing the change in color.

"Hmm?" asked Chihiro filling a cup.

"You're deathly white."

"Oh," said Chihiro. "It's natural, don't worry about it." But worry Yuuko did. Chihiro couldn't carry all three cups over to the dining room table so she grasped two in opposite hands and had the third magically fly over to where Akio was sitting. The two humans gasped. Chihiro internally slapped herself. They were humans and completely unfamiliar with the ways of magic; of course this would seriously freak them out. It was easy to forget how different humans and spirits truly were.

She then understood her sister's reasoning behind separating the two worlds. Yes, maybe the humans did grow ignorant of the kami and fill in their rivers and set fire to their woods. But together they may be even more deadly. Kami already were high and snobbish as it was. If they had humans in their everyday sights they would see them no more than as toys or pets. In that one instant she could see deadly wars that would end existence between human and kami-kind alike if they were to live as one. Maybe one day the worlds could coexist in peace, but that would be far into the future. She wondered if she would still be alive to see that.

She internally rolled her eyes. There went the human thinking in her again. Of course she would be alive for that. She would never die, it was nearly impossible.

"Sorry about that." She said sheepishly towards the two humans. Akio was clearly disturbed but said nothing. The humans accepted the tea and drank it, neither willing to speak. Chihiro sighed, she better get on with it. "Well…" she paused. How on earth was she going to explain this? "I'm obviously not human am I?" she chuckled dryly. Yuuko spluttered her tea. She had known that Chihiro wasn't human just by the sight of her. But to have Chihiro state it so casually made it seem real. Too real.

Akio shook his head. " I want to know. But can we keep it at a bare minimum please?" he practically begged. Akio was never one to delve into the more supernatural parts of life. He was never religious, sure he believes in something higher but he wasn't exactly sure what. He was more of a black and white person, any gray in life was just too much for him. Chihiro smiled. Bare minimum, she could work with that.

"Well with the bare minimum," she smirked at her human father, "a long time ago, a _very_ long time ago," she corrected "a sort of war broke out between human and spirit kind. Me and my sister, and yes I have a sister. Her name is Ka-Tsuchi and Amaterasu," Akio and Yuuko raised their eyebrows at the name. They did not recognize the name Ka-Tsuchi, but Amaterasu? That was a name they definitely recognized. The sun goddess. One of the highest deities in the Shinto religion. Amaterasu was their daughter's…sister? "Anyway, my sister and I were fighting in a war. A lot of things happened and the next thing I know billions of years later I'm being reincarnated. Into a human, your daughter Chihiro. " She paused to take a drink of tea. "Yuuko, you are descended from a very important spirit. So many generations have passed maybe only a drop of her blood runs in your system, but it's there. That is why I was reincarnated into your womb, as your daughter."

She sighed and had to close her eyes for this. "Because of this I am truly sorry." Deafening silence rang clear in the air. What did she mean? She was sorry for being their daughter? Chihiro didn't have to see to know what was going through their heads. "I took the life away from your true daughter. The one that should have been conceived almost nineteen years ago. I am not your true daughter." A tea cup crashed to the floor.

"OF COURSE YOU ARE!" shrieked Yuuko. Chihiro snapped her eyes open to see the violent murder scene of the poor tea cup. She stared at it, unable to meet her mother's gaze.

"No," said Chihiro softly, "I'm not." She slowly raised her gaze upwards. She inhaled deeply. "I was born to your family only to live as a human for a short while before I had to return to my true home. Because of this I stole the life of your true daughter. The one that is Yuuko's womb right now." Yuuko gasped. How did Chihiro know she was pregnant? "That is your true daughter. Not me. I am the daughter of Izanami-no-Mikoto and Izanagi-no-Mikoto." There went another tea cup. This girl in front of them…was the daughter of the sources of creation? "But to me, you'll always be my parents." Finished Chihiro, her voice heavy with emotion.

Yuuko burst into tears, whether it was the hormones or some other source she couldn't hold back the flow any longer. She didn't understand what Chihiro was saying about a lot of things, but she did understand one thing. She wasn't truly their daughter, and that they were no closer to finding their daughter than they were when they sent out search parties. "So what does this mean?" she sobbed.

"This means…" began Chihiro. This was the hardest part, saying goodbye. "That I can't live here any longer. But when did I ever truly live here to begin with?" She the last part dryly. Though it hurt, Yuuko and Akio knew she was right. When was she ever their daughter? They had both known deep down in their hearts the whole time. It would hurt but they would be fine.

"Will you visit at least?" begged Yuuko.

Chihiro bit her lip. Inter-dimension travel was difficult and required a lot of power. There was a reason the rift between the human and spirit worlds were created, Chihiro and her parents were only able to cross because of Chihiro's true identity. She couldn't promise them visits from her physical form, but she could promise them one thing. "I will. You will actually see me more frequently than you think. In every summer breeze or winter wind, I am there. In every drop of water, you will see me. Every night when you stare at the moon, I will be watching down." She promised. Yuuko and Akio definitely didn't understand that. But for some reason they felt comforted by it, almost.

"Does that have anything to do with your hair?" questioned Akio

"Bare minimum, right?" teased Chihiro.

Akio harrumphed "Right." He said, suddenly remembering who he was.

By the time Yuuko could regain herself she had something boiling inside her. "The river project is progressing rapidly. I'm guessing you don't want me to tell Rumi and Tsukiko about this?"

Chihiro gasped. She had almost completely forgotten about restoring the Kohaku River! She then rolled her eyes. Restoring the river seemed like such a great idea so long ago; little did she know she was restoring it for perhaps the most dimwitted dragon in all of existence. Rumi and Tsukiko, just two more people she would have to say goodbye to. Two of her best friends. They could hold their own though, she had no worries. "No, don't tell them. They'll be fine, and I'll ensure that the reconstruction goes smoother than expected." She assured.

Yuuko smiled, she decided not to tell her about the construction of her own section of the Kohaku River. She had a feeling in time she would find out. Suddenly it hit her! How did she not see this before? "So, have you finally met any boys?"

Chihiro gagged on her tea at that. "Um…no…maybe…it's complicated."

Yuuko smiled knowingly. She knew a girl in love when she saw one.

Akio was clearly not pleased. Sure she may not technically be his daughter, but he'd be damned if he didn't raise her like it! She would always be his little girl. "Oh get over it, Akio." Snapped Yuuko. Chihiro sat silent the whole time sipping nonchalantly on her tea. "What's his name?" demanded Yuuko.

"It's complicated." Insisted Chihiro.

Yuuko raised her hands innocently. Names didn't matter, the only thing that did was that her daughter could finally be in love! "Okay!" she said in mock defeat.

Chihiro stifled a yawn. It was getting late. "I'll need to leave soon, it's late."

Yuuko's face immediately fell. "Please, stay overnight will you? You can sleep in your old room. It's exactly the same as when you left it."

Chihiro's breath hitched. It did sound very nice. Her old bed and clothes. Maybe she could take some memorabilia from her human life. "Okay." She smiled and excused herself. She paused; she wanted to say this before she left. "Before I go will you promise me something?"

"Of course, anything." Promised Yuuko.

"When the baby is born. Name her Rin." With that Chihiro left.

Yuuko and Akio glanced at one another. They knew the day where they would have to give up their daughter would come eventually, but they didn't expect it so soon. Then they recognized all the signs that she never truly was theirs.

The long nights spent sitting on the roof staring at the moon, how she would blankly stare into space, how she was distant even around her best friends. No, she was not a creature of this world.

Chihiro sat on the window seat of her room. Her parents were right in saying that nothing had changed. The clothes she wore the day before she disappeared were still scattered throughout the room. She smiled at the familiarity of it all. Just for this one night she would pretend that her life was still normal. That she wasn't an all-powerful being. That she was just a normal human. She would allow these thoughts for one night.

She stared at the moon. The waxing gibbous was nearly full, only a hair was left before the moon would be at the peak of its cycle. And she at the peak of her power. She sighed. Such a short time she had to prepare to join with the moon. What would it be like? Would it be as cold and hard as the surface looked? Or would she be in some otherworldly place, something made entirely of the magic that seemed to emanate from the moon? She wasn't sure.

She wondered why she was tired at night. Night was the time of being awake for spirits. Maybe it was the inter-dimension travel that had messed with her body. Lost in her thoughts she fell asleep in the moon's glow.

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><p>"No, this is not my river." Haku protested. "My river is gone."<p>

The little girl who was known as Kiyoko pouted at him underwater. _This is your river_. She insisted

Haku groaned, arguing with a child was pointless. He had never really been good around children. No matter what a scholar would argue, a child's wisdom greatly surpassed any being possible. Their love and imagination showed the true beauty of the world. They could see things hidden to adults. In truth, children were the purest essence of them all. But they were so stubborn! "Little girl," he strained, "my river is gone. This is your river probably."

Kiyoko puffed her cheeks. She would argue until the world ended, and Haku knew that. _It's your river!_

"How?" cried Haku exasperated.

_I don't know. It just is._ She shrugged her shoulders_. It's gone in the human world, but not here._

"Then how did I not have known my river still existed? I am bonded to it, I would have known." Haku tried to explain to the little girl.

Kiyoko cocked her head and thought for a moment. _Because you're a dummy_. She decided.

Haku could only gape at the little girl. He, a powerful god, had just been called a dummy by a little girl he had never met. _It's your river_. She said, suddenly sounding much wiser. _Feel it!_ She commanded. To appease the little girl he closed his eyes and tried to feel the magic within the river. It wasn't hard to find; it flowed like the currents throughout. The magic had a familiar essence to it. It begged for some magic in return, and seeing no point in not cooperating, he reciprocated the magic. In that moment he was bonded to that river. They were one. This was his river.

His eyes snapped open in shock. He stared at little Kiyoko who giggled up at him_. I am right!_ She chimed. _They're bringing it back in the human world you know._

"They are?" Haku asked. How had he not known about this?

_Mhmm_. Confirmed Kiyoko.

At that she came out of the water completely dry. In the afternoon sun her hair seemed almost translucent and soft as down feathers. She was dressed in a simple white sundress, which usually would have clashed with her already extremely pale skin. But it made her look all the more innocent. Her ice blue eyes appraised him for a moment before she gave him a hug. He, still sitting down on the bank, could only sit there in shock. He noticed just how short the girl was. Sitting down he was only half his height, even then she was shorter than him. She had to reach upward to wrap her arms innocently around his neck. Unsure of how to respond he just sat there and let her hug him. He wasn't used to affection.

She pushed back from him eventually to observe him. The smile never left her angelic face. After a moment of her staring at him she gasped in pleasant surprise. "You're in love!"

Haku's eyes widened "What?"

She giggled. "You're in lo-ove." She said in a sing-song voice; her mouth stretched into a wide smile to reveal two missing front teeth.

"Excuse me?" Haku managed after a moment.

"With her!" said Kiyoko pointing to the large home behind them.

Haku was confused for a moment as he saw no living thing in sight that she could have been pointing to. It suddenly sank in. "N-no. Not with her. Someone else."

Kiyoko smiled to herself as he admitted she was right. Then grew sour. "Yes. Her." She insisted.

Haku gently took the girl's hand that was pointing at Mizu-Kaze's house in his own. "No, someone else." He insisted.

She stared pointedly at him, as if deciding if he was joking or just plain stupid. "Her." she insisted "Mommy."

This took Haku aback. "Mommy?" he questioned. Did Mizu-Kaze have a husband he was not aware of?

"Mhmm. I came from her. So did _everything_!" she pulled her hand away from his and did a little twirl with her hands raised in the air as if to accentuate. "She's everyone's mommy. Except yours."

"What do you mean?" His eyebrows pulled together in confusion

"Your river comes from her mountain. She's not your mommy because you're a part of her in a different way. You're bonded to her, which means you two were meant to be in love." She spoke. Haku realized that this child could possibly be the wisest being that ever existed.

"But…my dragon form has already chosen a love." He protested quietly.

Kiyoko shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. But you're supposed to be in love with _her_." she pointed to the house once more. "Let your human go." She finished.

Haku gasped and stared at her. How did she know of Chihiro? He hadn't even told Mizu-Kaze that it was a human he was looking for, just a girl. _Yes_, he decided_, this_ _is_ _the wisest being_.

"She may only get hurt. Go to your true love." Her sweet voice commanded. "Bye daddy!" she waved to the stunned river spirit and skipped off doing little dances and twirls in the process. He watched her until she skipped out of eyesight.

Daddy? He may not know some things, but he certainly knew he was not a father! "Who is she?" he caught himself thinking out loud.

A wispy voice piped up behind him. "Kiyoko. Pure Child." The voice explained her name. Haku tried to look back to the source of the voice but he was bonded to the spot where he sat. A holding charm. "The guardian of childhood and protector of purity. A lot can be taken from a child's heart. Do not take her words lightly. She knows more than you ever will." The voice sneered at the last part.

The figure walked to Haku. Haku found he could move his head. From the spot he could see flowing black robes and a figure with icy pale skin and short jet black hair. His face held slight stubble, a straight nose, and white eyes with no pupils that could only be described as menacing. "Kei." Haku spat through clenched teeth.

"Hello Kohaku." Kei said bored. "What do you say we go for a little trip?" Kei placed his hand on Haku's shoulder and instantaneously they were no longer on the bed of the Kohaku River. Haku was in a cell made entirely out of ice; it was completely vacant except for a thin red blanket in the corner. A small window was carved into the wall. Kei's face peering into it. "Welcome to the Palace of the North, Kohaku. Home of the Yuki-Onna. So sorry I had to do this," he said in a tone that showed he obviously wasn't, "I just needed you for a little game we're going to play on your little girlfriend Mizu-Kaze."

"She isn't my…" Haku began.

"Save it Kohaku. I do not care. All I know is that you mean very much to her, which is exactly what I need. You see, the Yuki-Onna is not pleased about Mizu-Kaze's return. That would mean that winter now belongs to Mizu-Kaze once more, and the Yuki-Onna will not have that. So she has decided to attack Mizu-Kaze. She will burn down the Aburaya bathhouse, her home in mount Fuyu, and her home in the human world."

Home in the human world? Questioned Haku.

"All while Mizu-Kaze is joined with her moon." There went another mystery. Since when did Mizu-Kaze need to join with the moon? "When she returns from her moon she will see all she holds dear is gone, at that precise moment the Yuki-Onna will try to kill her. But the Yuki-Onna is stubborn. She refuses to believe that Mizu-Kaze cannot be killed, and that she may lose her own life in this. So with that being said, I have decided to capture you as my own and I will use you for Mizu-Kaze's surrender. Your life in exchange for her giving up winter. A brilliant plan yes?"

Haku spat in Kei's face through the window. Kei breathed in deeply to control his anger. He raised his arm to wipe it away. "Hate me if you must, Kohaku. This is all for the greater good."

"The greater good for you getting power and riches!" Kei's little game was well-known throughout the spirit world.

Kei merely shrugged. "Oh, and Kohaku." He began. "I sent the northern winds in an attempt to capture Mizu-Kaze and bring her here. Do not ever interrupt me like that again." With that he took his leave.

Kohaku sat there pondering all that Kei said. Human home. Moon. What did that mean? Suddenly he was very angry and changed into dragon form and started clawing the walls in attempt to escape. It was futile.

He was trapped.

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><p>Chihiro woke the next morning feeling completely refreshed with the sun shining down on her. She was sad that she didn't get to spend one more night in her human bed, but she wouldn't have exchanged it for the night she slept under the moon's glow.<p>

She spent the day in comfortable silence with both her parents. Gardening with Yuuko had been a favorite activity. Chihiro had a way with nature that made the flowers come to life by her just touching them. A board game with her father. A family meal. No one spoke of the ever present shadow looming over their heads; they all knew this would be goodbye for a long time. Sunset signaled her time to leave. A sad time.

Chihiro stood in the doorway of the blue house on a hill. Yuuko and Akio stood opposite of her. "Dad I want you to lose some weight." Chihiro scolded to Akio. "And Mom, please eat. I am okay! This isn't healthy for you…or the baby." She stared pointedly to Yuuko's abdomen. Yuuko glanced downward sheepishly. She gave both her parents a hug and said goodbye before placing her hand on Yuuko's abdomen. "Goodbye, Rin." She whispered to the small baby that wasn't even aware of life yet, but the soul shone brighter and purer than any she had ever seen.

With that she departed to her true home.

Yuuko and Akio stared with heavy hearts. Though they had found their daughter, the search for her would never end.

Chihiro appeared on the banks of the Kohaku River that flowed only in the spirit world. She wondered if Haku had figured out that it was his river. She was no longer angry at him and with the goodbye to her human parents out of the way there was nothing to stop her from telling Haku who she truly was. She knew she wouldn't even hesitate to tell him she was the girl with the little pink shoe.

By this time only a hair of the sun hung on the horizon.

"Mommy!" chimed a little girl running up to hug Mizu-Kaze.

"Kiyoko!" Chihiro picked up the little girl and hugged her tightly. Mizu-Kaze had always loved the little goddess of childhood. It was impossible not to. Someone that pure and innocent could only be loved. The world needed more people like this little girl. "I missed you."

"I missed you too mommy! Daddy had to go bye-bye though." Said Kiyoko.

"Riku?" Chihiro asked. She was familiar with Kiyoko calling she and her sister mommy because she had come from them, after Ka-Tsuchi took Riku as her love Kiyoko had started calling him daddy.

Kiyoko shook her head. "Other daddy." She insisted "Other daddy came back, but a man took him away."

"Kiyoko," said Chihiro slowly, "who is other daddy?"

"Daddy!" she said pointing to the Kohaku River. Chihiro gasped.

"Where is he?" she rushed.

Kiyoko shrugged her shoulders "Another man took him."

"Excuse me Kiyoko." She said setting the little girl down. She rushed into her large home and glanced around her corridors nervously. She finally found the place she had been searching for: the library. Surely if Haku was anywhere it would be the library.

A figure stood in front of the open window, but it wasn't Haku. "Amaterasu?"

The sun goddess turned to look at her. Every part of her sister's body glowed bright orange, like the surface of the sun. It was more of a luminescent glow, unlike the blinding light of the sun. "It's time. You've been gone three days." Amaterasu stated.

Three days? She had only been gone one! But time runs differently in the spirit world. It was the night that she would join the full moon. "What? No! I'm not ready!"

"You don't have a choice." Said Amaterasu sadly, still glancing out the window. Suddenly Chihiro saw what her sister had been so intent on watching. In the distance a small army was tearing through the valley and making its way up the mountainside.

"What is that?" whispered Chihiro.

"The Yuki-Onna's army." Said Amaterasu dryly.

"Are they coming for me?"

Amaterasu nodded her head. There were so many! Spirits of all shapes and sizes were coming. Some were beautiful and colorful. Some were hard to look at as they were so gruesome. But they were all menacing and deadly.

"Then I will stay and fight." Said Chihiro determinedly.

"No." said Amaterasu. "You will join with your moon and not lay a finger on the battle scene! I lost you once, and I will not lose you again." Chihiro was about to protest, but the sun finally set. With that Amaterasu placed her palm on her sister's head. That began the transformation of the goddess of water and air into the goddess of the moon. Blinding white light radiated from every part of the girl's body as slowly every inch turned ghostly white. She was Selena once more.

"Go." Said Amaterasu turning back into Ka-Tsuchi. The orange glow slowly disappeared from her fingertips, leaving her true skin. It receded until it was a glowing orb right over her heart and then the glow disappeared entirely leaving Ka-Tsuchi. With that Ka-Tsuchi forced her sister into the moon. Selena vanished from sight, but not before she could throw her sister one last look. Ka-Tsuchi could see in that one look everything she could not say. What Ka-Tsuchi had done was nearly unforgivable. She stared up at her sister now with the moon; it shone brighter and you could almost taste the magic that radiated off the surface. She pulled out the spear that her parents used to create her out of a fold in her kimono and clasped it tightly in her hand. "Do your worst." She threatened the oncoming army.

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><p><strong>So I got this chapter out early! One day early…but still early!<strong>

**So, since I revealed last chapter in the Author's note that I was completed with this story, I have received several of the same question. "Is there going to be a sequel?" and I honestly was going to save this as a surprise for the very last chapter. But, yes, there will be a sequel! And yes I have already started writing it. I can't give you an estimation on how long it will be right now, all I can say is: it will be long. It's filled completely with action and adventure that this story was somewhat lacking. The prologue will be posted immediately after the last chapter of snowflakes.**

**Also does anyone on here have a deviantart? I love looking at art so I was just wondering if any of my readers are artists. I personally can't draw or paint to save my life.**

**Okay, so if you don't review for me, review for little Kiyoko! OMG she's just soooo cute! I so wish she was real so I could steal her for myself! But alas, she's a figment of my imagination;( so review for little Kiyoko! Oh and baby Rin! Let's not forget about her:)**

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><p><strong>Hall of fame reviewers!<strong>

** - thanks so much! And yep, a sequel is on the way and already being worked on:) yeah I'm surprised that I got chapters written so far in advance. One day when we were out of school because of snow, the roads were too bad to go anywhere so I literally wrote all day! Like from 10 am when I woke up until like 2 in the morning I just wrote and wrote and wrote. That was a good day, ah. As for the rest of my writing doesn't get the same fate :/ most of my writing gets done between midnight and two am. Ah yep! It's out:)**

**Jade Mahoneysuckle – twenty chapters I think that's what you're asking. This fic is gonna be twenty chapters. And yeahh…I am a little cruel:) and yeah I kinda agree about the Yuki-Onna. And well…the lullaby is not in this chapter…but soon! It's one of the only things left a mystery in this story that I'm keeping from you guys! I gotta have something to keep you guys hooked.**

**FlutterbyBella –two more after this chapter. Still got chapter 19, and chapter 20 will be the epilogue. Thanks!**

**Meralei – thanks so much! Yeah when I wrote the koi fish I was reminded of that show too, but it wasn't based off of it. Also I don't know if you're referring to the Yuki-Onna as being the black koi, but heads up, she's not:) haha!**

**Narai9 – thanks! Yeah I have to admit I'm really enjoying toying with haku. It's kind of a sick amusement for me:)**

**Skye Wolfe – haha I was grinning while I wrote it! Thanks! More updates on the way:)**

**Fish – haha! Well it won't **_**technically **_**be over in three weeks. There's still the sequel to come!**

**Asumi-chan – oh yeah, Zeniba DEFINITELY did that on purpose XD. Oh and hot guys jogging…that's always a **_**very **_**nice thing;) oh and no you didn't forget the words, cuz I haven't told anyone them yet haha. Been getting some hate for that:) Oh and Haku passed out because his poor frazzled mind was so shocked at the announcement that Mizu-Kaze was Ka-Tsuchi's sister. Yep there's gonna be a sequel. **

**Wow I wish you good luck with the screaming child next door:/ I love children but they are the devils sometimes!**

**Elivira – Thanks! And I agree, I don't think anyone can be truly evil.**

**Woodswolf - I'll purchase oneXD haha! Hmm I think one of my close friends might challenge you for that role of part time billy mays replacement! Ooooohhhh Haku with flaming hair…interesting*sais evilly* **


	19. Part 1  The Son of the Yuki Onna

**Chapter 19 part 1**

"**Don't you dare look out your window darling**

**Everything's on fire**

**The war outside our door keeps raging on**

**Hold onto this lullaby**

**Even when the music's gone, gone"**

**-Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars 'Safe and Sound' from 'The Hunger Games' soundtrack**

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><p>Haku was curled in a little ball in the corner of the ice cell. The thin red blanket, which was more of a sheet of cloth, was wrapped securely around his shoulders. With every breath he exhaled a puff of fog. His shoulders trembled with the chill of the room. He had been in this forsaken cell for nearly three days. He was surprised he hadn't gotten frostbite by now.<p>

He'd be damned if he didn't kill Kei once he got out of here!

Tightening the cloth over his body he blew into his hands to try to maintain some warmth there.

Suddenly a small figure appeared cross-legged in front of him. A pile of summer flowers rested in the being's lap. A simple white sundress was draped over the small girl's pale body. Feathery white-blond hair hung down the being's shoulder and ice blue eyes carefully watched him. Kiyoko. Guardian of children and all that is pure and innocent.

"Hello." She greeted warmly, tilting her head to the side. She smiled widely to reveal two missing front teeth.

"H-H-Hello." Haku returned the greeting through chattering teeth.

Kiyoko shifted her attention from him to the rainbow of flowers in her lap. Haku wondered how she got them, summer wasn't for months and there wasn't any possible way that these flowers survived winter. She started weaving the stems together. This continued for a while.

All Haku could do was stare as her delicate fingers worked in intricate patterns. He wondered how she wasn't cold. All she was wearing was a spaghetti strap white sundress, something you would find human children wearing in the dead of summer, and she had no shoes. But she showed no sign of the discomfort in the cold.

When it was clear he would have to be the first to speak he said, "What are you doing here, Kiyoko?"

"To see you." Was all her soprano voice said.

"For what?" he asked.

Her icy blue eyes that held all the innocence and mirth of a child, and yet all the wisdom of an owl popped up, to look him in the eye. Her fingers stopped weaving the flowers for a moment. "Mommy came back and you weren't there. She was worried about you, so I came to make sure my Daddy was okay."

He exhaled noisily. Mizu-Kaze was worried about him? Well, that was some sort of relief. He then grew confused. With all the power of the two worlds surely she could get him out of something that was a parody of one of her own elements! Of all the things he could have said, and maybe gotten some very important answers to, he asked: "Why do you keep calling me daddy? I'm not a father."

She cocked her head at him. "Because you love Mommy Mizu-Kaze like Daddy Riku loves Mommy Ka-Tsuchi."

He sighed. He knew he would never make the little girl understand. Wise she was, but everything she saw was still from the perspective of a child.

"You know I'm right." Chimed in the little girl.

"What?" asked Haku from half closed eyelids. The cold was biting at him harder every moment he was in the cell.

"You love Mommy. You _could_ love another girl, but your true love is my Mommy. The human would only get hurt in the end anyway." Shrugged Kyoko beginning to tend to her flowers once more.

Haku could only stare at the girl in front of him. She truly believed she was right, and he knew there was no point in arguing with her. But he was curious. "What do you mean she would only get hurt in the end?"

She didn't look at him as she spoke; her attention was directed towards the flowers in her lap. "Humans grow old and die. You don't die. It wouldn't be fair for you or her. That's why she wasn't made to be your true love. Mommy was meant to be your true love because she can live forever. You'd have to say goodbye to your human very soon, but Mommy you'd never have to say goodbye to."

He had to admit, Kiyoko's words held some truth. Chihiro would grow old one day and die all too soon. He would have a maximum of eighty years with her. _It was just too short!_ Though he wouldn't admit it, that was one of the reasons he never went to the human world to visit her. He knew he would be too in love with her and maybe he wouldn't be able to go back to the spirit world. He would be so caught up in his love for her the years would tick by and before he knew it she would be old and gray, then one day she would slip from the world of the living and there would be nothing he could do about it.

He smirked at the girl's logic. "Well, I'd have to find her first wouldn't I?"

She looked at him and grinned. He knew her wise eyes too well now; she was keeping secrets. "What will you do when you find her?"

He was shocked. He actually hadn't thought about that. What would he do when he found her? Take her home? What if she already was at her home? Confess his love for her? Kiss her? Find her dead remains? There was still no proof that she was alive and well, the only claim he had to rely on was Zeniba's insistence and a white and blue hair band. Not a very reliable source. What would he do? "I'm not sure." He admitted.

Kiyoko smiled. "What would you do if Mommy was here?"

He stared at her again. He knew automatically what he would do if Mizu-Kaze was here. He would hold her tight in what he hoped would come off as a friendly embrace and hold back every urge to kiss her and claim her as his own. He would be fighting his dragon instincts that would be screaming at him the whole time. _Kiss her. Protect her. Keep her close_. Is what his body would scream, and he would be so close to giving in. What if he were to allow himself to give in? To steal a chaste kiss, his very first out of his four million years of life, from her. He had been saving it for Chihiro, who he believed to be his true love until Mizu-Sen, or rather Mizu-Kaze, stepped into his life and made things so much more confusing for him. What if he did it? What would happen?

After he didn't answer, Kiyoko grew smug. She knew she had crumbled his resolve. Her nimble fingers had finished the crown of flowers and she rose and placed it unceremoniously on Haku's head. He barely acknowledged her as his thoughts were filled with Mizu-Kaze. She smiled, satisfied. The wreath of flowers accented his bluish green hair perfectly. Her head quickly snapped upward to the ceiling, sensing something that Haku didn't. "Bye bye Daddy!" She pecked him on the cheek before skipping off through the wall.

He sat there and stared blankly at the spot on the wall she had skipped through. How had she been able to maneuver in and out of the cell when even he was not able to do so? He decided to let it slip, there were much more pressing matters that deserved contemplation right now. Mizu-Kaze or Chihiro? Chihiro or Mizu-Kaze? The girl with the little pink shoe and who had given his name back and who he thought he loved, or the glowing girl who was incredibly powerful, who showed up out of nowhere, and who he found himself falling deeper in love with every time he saw her? A human who he would eventually have to see leave his life forever after only a short time, or someone he would never have to say goodbye to? Almond shaped chocolate eyes, or almond gray ones? Why was fate so cruel?

But throughout his entire moral dilemma he had not been able to keep a pair of lovely gray eyes out of his mind. It could just be his river's connection to Mizu-Kaze's home that was linking them. Nothing more. He immediately tossed that idea away; he knew it was because he was falling for Mizu-Kaze, and fast.

There was no way he could choose both. He smirked; it seemed his decision was made before he even knew the choices. It was Mizu-Kaze all along. Yes, he would always love Chihiro and that would never change no matter how much he wanted to. But he loved Mizu-Kaze too, and he had just been too stubborn to accept it. He knew he was in love with her from the moment he saw her, he just needed to find Chihiro first. But now, the last thing at the moment that he wanted to do was find Chihiro. This world was too dangerous for her. What with the Yuki-Onna marching an army through the entirety of the spirit world, threatening to kill anything that would stand in her way. Of course Chihiro would want to be a heroine and try to save as many as she could, and maybe even stop the Yuki-Onna. She had no place in this war but she would make sure she did. Things would be too dangerous for her, and they always would be. He couldn't protect her every second no matter how hard he tried. He hoped Chihiro was as far away from the spirit world as possible.

Even if he did somehow have time with Chihiro before her life ended all too soon, he would grieve for a while before returning to Mizu-Kaze and start a relationship with her. The answer was always Mizu-Kaze. There just wasn't a way to do things without someone being hurt, and this way fewer would. The only one that would be hurt was him. Mizu-Kaze would get him as she wanted, he would get one of his loves and his heart would always ache for the other, and Chihiro wouldn't remember him. This was the way things had to be done.

Of course he would never give up on trying to find Chihiro. If things were reversed he knew she would never rest until he was found. He would make sure she was found, and after a certain amount of time had passed and she still wasn't found, he could only assume she had been dead all along, and he would continue his life with Mizu-Kaze. Was he betraying Chihiro because of this? He dismissed the thought. How could he betray someone he never got the chance to properly love?

He suddenly felt the red blanket disappear from his shoulders and slightly warmer air met his skin. The air was still frigid, but not as bad. He had little time to register his surroundings because the cool blade of a knife was being pressed against his throat.

* * *

><p>"Now?" Came a voice from the shadows.<p>

"Now's as good a time as ever." Came a second voice.

"Do we have to do this? Can we just not and say we did?" Asked a third.

The first voice spoke up again, "We have to otherwise the Yuki-Onna will have our heads for her next meal!" The four concealed figures shuddered at the thought. Shadows encompassed their every movement; they were completely invisible to the naked eye. The fourth figure, the smallest, remained quiet the whole time. He was too shaken by fear. He glanced nervously at the moon's radiance from the heavens, surely by now Mizu-Kaze would have joined with it. And he was next to certain it was watching their every movement. _Please forgive me_. He prayed internally to her. Of course she could do nothing while she was trapped, but when she was released…

" 'Ey, let's go!" commanded the first voice. Gathering their wits they loomed from the shadows and began their short journey to the two story blue house on a hill.

Little did they know it would be void of the two humans they had been ordered to capture. A last minute 'brilliant' idea by the Yuki-Onna. Capture the humans, and use their deaths to torture Mizu-Kaze before the Yuki-Onna delivered the final blow to her.

Only an hour before the four arsonists made their pilgrimage to the human world, the Ogino's had another visitor.

Chihiro had only left around thirty minutes prior and the shocked, but relieved, figures of Yuuko and Akio sat on the sofa in the living room looking through old photo albums. They had done this several times hoping to fill the void in their hearts that appeared when Chihiro disappeared, only now could they look at the precious photos and smile.

A small girl appeared sitting on Yuuko's lap, scaring the wits out of her and Akio. In the blink of an eye Akio had bolted to the far corner of the room. Yuuko thought about escape for a brief moment, but it was only a child in her lap. Yuuko could not bring herself to be scared of the foreign girl; she was fascinated by the strange pale skin and ice blue eyes. "Who are you?" she asked in a voice that she used to use when Chihiro was a child.

The small girl smiled up at her. "I'm Kiyoko." The girl introduced herself. Then the kind eyes switched to the man in the corner "And you're Akio, and you're Yuuko," she said shifting her gaze back to the woman she was sitting on "and you're Rin." She finished touching Yuuko's abdomen. Yuuko and Akio stared at each other. How did the child know of Yuuko's pregnancy and that the child was to be named Rin?

"Excuse me." Said little Kiyoko patting Yuuko's shoulder. "But we have to leave. It's not safe right now, but don't worry, you'll be safe if you come with me." She smiled. Yuuko wanted to believe the child so badly, but what danger was she in? What could this child be talking about?

"Not that I don't trust you, but why should I?" Akio said suspiciously. He only added the first part as to not offend the small child.

"Because you're in danger." The girl repeated "Bad men are coming. Please come with me, you'll be safe. If you stay here you won't be…" the girl trailed off for a second "yes I'll be sure to tell them that. Also because Rin wants you to go with me." Akio and Yuuko stared at Kiyoko shell-shocked.

It finally registered with Yuuko. "You spoke to Rin?" she whispered.

Kiyoko nodded. "She wants you to come with me, so you'll be safe." By this time Yuuko was wrapped around the little girl's finger and would do anything the girl asked. Akio was hesitant but wherever his wife went, he went also. "Please." Kiyoko said so sweetly it crumbled Akio's resolve. He walked over to where his wife sat with the little girl on her lap and grasped her outstretched hand in his own. There was no blinding flash of light, no puff of smoke, nothing dramatic to signal the group's exit. One minute they were there, the next they disappeared completely.

The only one left was little Kiyoko sitting cross-legged on the couch. She did not go with the humans, for if she did she wouldn't be able to complete her job here. She sent them nowhere, nowhere at all. She had erased them from reality. Yuuko and Akio Ogino never existed. It was best this way because there was no way the Yuki-Onna could harm them now. Furniture began to disappear; smiling faces were wiped from picture frames, all except for an image of a certain girl from birth to young adulthood. Chihiro. Kiyoko smiled. She wondered if her little talk with Haku had sparked anything inside of him to make him realize who this girl was. She knew she wasn't taken very seriously by most spirits, and she was okay with that. Sometimes it proved beneficial. After the small war was over in a few days' time she would restore reality to what it once was. Yuuko and Akio would appear back in the same spots they disappeared from with no memory of Kiyoko.

Once she sensed the sofa start to disappear from underneath her she hopped up and moved to the center of the room. Crossing her legs beneath her she produced another assortment of wildflowers and began to weave them together. For now she would wait.

She had constructed three wreaths of flowers by the time the arsonists arrived. All were boys, all were air spirits with black hair and white eyes, all were medium height, and all were scared. She cocked her head to the side and chimed "Hello."

Four sets of white eyes snapped over to the source in confusion. "Where are they?" snapped one of the men trying to sound forceful. It wasn't hard for Kiyoko to see through the act.

She acted as if he didn't speak and continued to stare at them. "Well?" He demanded again.

"Do we have the right house?" Murmured one.

" 'Course we do! Blue house on the end. No other blue houses on the end now are there?" Said another voice smacking the one who spoke beforehand upside the head.

"The humans are not here." The small girl interrupted. She once again had their attention. "Will you sit with me?" She asked gesturing to spots in front and around her.

There was a chorus of _should we? Who is she?_ And _huh?_ Before one voice piped up, "She's just a kid! We can't hurt a kid, might as well get her to move before we burn the place down. Maybe find out where the humans are." He whispered the last part.

They all shrugged seeing no harm in it and sat down with the young girl. Kiyoko shifted her gaze back to her flowers as they all took their seats on the floor. Several moments of silence passed awkwardly, though the young girl didn't seem to notice.

"Umm…" began one of the air spirits nervously, "Who are you?"

"Kiyoko." The girl chimed in her soprano voice. The four air spirits gasped. They had only heard rumors of the child goddess, she was assumed to be a myth. But there she was, sitting in front of them. Then they realized the situation just got about a hundred times worse for them. There was no way they could harm the little girl, she was just too innocent and pure. To even attempt to harm such a creature would immediately cause them to become insane. The Yuki-Onna would kill them for sure.

"Where are the humans?" Asked the same one a little more timidly.

At that she snapped her head up to look them in the eye; they were all shocked at the wisdom that was hidden under the many layers of youth. "I erased them from reality, so you couldn't hurt them or the baby." She answered truthfully.

One of them groaned. Erased from reality. Just peachy. There was no way they could touch them now. The only one who could return the lost souls was the one that sent them away, in which case would be Kiyoko. Now was the trick of persuading her to bring them back. But children were stubborn, if they decided on something; they would stick to it by all costs.

"Would you like a flower wreath? I made them just for you." Offered Kiyoko, extending the ringlet of summer flowers she had woven.

Who were they to refuse? Grudgingly they accepted the wreaths and placed them on their heads.

"Could you bring the back please? I have a present for them…" trailed off one of the air spirits. He knew how unconvincing he sounded, but he had to try.

"No you don't." said Kiyoko looking at him, her face was stretched into an angelic grin. "You were going to take them and burn the house down."

One of them groaned. "Hey, we're never gonna get them back! Let's just tell the Yuki-Onna we accidentally killed them over our hate for humans and then we burned their bodies with the house, that way we may at least be able to keep some of our limbs."

The other three looked anxiously at one another. It could possibly work. But what would they do about the child? "Little girl you'll have to move."

"But I don't want to." She replied innocently.

"Then I'll just have to make you move." Said one of them impatiently. He walked over to little Kiyoko, straightening his flower wreath as it threatened to slide off his head, and placed his hands underneath her arms. He attempted to lift her but she was rooted to the floor. Of course. A child's stubbornness. "Be a good girl and come with me!" He commanded. Kiyoko continued to stare with her ice blue eyes; she showed no sign of appeasement. "Fine!" he cried in frustration. He knew that once the flames began the girl would be forced to move.

The spirit that attempted to pick Kiyoko up opened his hand and in his palm rested a small ball of fire. It was small and pulsated like a heartbeat. Wicked flames danced in a mesmerizing way. Every now and then one of the flames would flare up temperamentally, like the surface of the sun. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

" 'Ey, don't do this. We can always run away." Said one of his brothers placing a hand on his shoulder in a pacifying attempt.

The man with the fire had to close his white eyes. "I have to." He whispered.

"Brother! Don't..."

But the man with the fire was no longer listening to his brother. Before he had time to hesitate, or worse, back out, he raised his now closed fist high in the air and opened it before he slammed it down on the ground.

Not a split second passed before the house erupted into flames. It wasn't a fire that started at one epicenter and extended its radius until the whole being was encompassed in flames. It was a sinister fire that immediately attacked everything without hesitation. It was hungry for more, but the house had no more to offer.

Three of the four air spirits covered their mouths with cloth from their shirts to avoid breathing in fumes and they tumbled over one another in a desperate escape towards the door. Only one remained. The one who had thrown the orb of fire. "I'm sorry." He coughed to the little girl who was still firmly planted on the floor. The fire did not touch her nor did she register the blistering heat.

Kiyoko gave him a sad smile. "Go now." She said in her small soprano voice.

Instead of leaving he sat mirroring her and allowed the flames to begin to eat at his clothes. "I don't think I can."

"Why not? If you don't leave soon you will burn." Said Kiyoko concerned. By this point blisters began to form on the man's skin being lapped at by the torturous heat.

"Ah. There is the issue. Stay here and die in one way, or leave and die in another. Between the two I would prefer to be the one choosing my own form of death." He returned her sad smile. The heat was agonizing but he didn't show it.

"You are very brave." Said Kiyoko.

"If only you knew…" his voice trailed off. "You might want to stand back Kiyoko. What I am about to do will not be pretty." He warned. His clothes were on fire by this point and not a single spot of skin was left un-charred or covered in blisters. It was a gruesome sight, but Kiyoko showed no fear towards the mutilated man.

Kiyoko felt a shift in the air currents. Somehow all the oxygen in the room began to move and condense into one spot over the man's head. The oxygen became somewhat visible; little white puffs. In a blinding flash the flames latched onto the condensed oxygen and began to burn intensely over the spot. The flames that feasted greedily on the oxygen soon died away as they consumed their life source. Once gone the man was left completely singed and bloody. "Oxygen is food. Food for the flames." He whispered his final words. His scorched body crumbled to ash on the floor. The only proof he ever existed. The flower wreath fell to the floor completely unharmed.

Kiyoko was sad as she walked over and picked up the very thing she had woven and ran her dainty fingers over the petals. There was nothing she could do for the house. This was a magical fire and no amount of force could stop it. Thankfully none of the surrounding houses or woodland area would be harmed as the fire had been made for the sole purpose of destroying this building.

Once she touched the petals all the information of the man's previous life transferred to her. Born of Kei and raised by the cruel hand of the Yuki-Onna. Of course the Yuki-Onna and Kei had produced several children from their couplings, but they refused to claim them as their own. If they were enough of a burden to require food, then they would be condemned to servitude.

He spent many countless nights scrubbing the ice floors, and several late days studying in the library. He was a scholar, a writer, a reader, a poet, and an astronomer. He longed for knowledge. He went through books like they were food. More than anything he longed to be free of his mother's services.

So he continued to study for centuries on end. There never seemed to be a lack of information. There was always something new to be learned. He grew to be an intelligent young air spirit, but of course this went unnoticed by his mother. He was of no more use to her than a servant.

Then came the fateful day where he stumbled upon his mother's lullaby written on a faded piece of parchment that was hidden in a dusty book in the depths of the library. He could use this against her, he just knew it. But how? He felt the power ringing in the words. They were more than just a lullaby. They were a spell of some sort. But how they had been uttered a thousand times over and had not caused a single reaction he couldn't understand. He tried everything. Singing the words to the rice his mother was about to eat. Maybe it could poison things. When that failed he sang it to her bath. Maybe the next time she cleaned herself the water would turn to acid. He tried it on everything he could think of.

Finally he settled to a last resort. He went out the palace walls one day in the dead of winter, already something he would be punished greatly for, but he had to try, and grabbed a fistful of snow. He began to wonder if this was the best way of going about things. He quickly shoved the thought aside; this is what he had to do. Soft as the falling snow he began to sing. Halfway through the song he was interrupted.

"Clever little boy." Came a sickly sweet voice. His eyes snapped open to see his mother standing before him. His blood ran cold.

"I-I'm sorry." He whispered fearing the worst.

"Get out of my sight and do not ever speak those words again." She spat at him. To refuse would have dire consequences, so he bowed and ran inside.

He would later wonder why his mother had not struck him as she would have usually. It then dawned upon him. It was because he knew her best kept secret. He was a wielder of a very powerful weapon. A weapon that he knew would be used against his mother.

Since then the Yuki-Onna would send him on every mission that came her way. Assassinating major spirits. Sending him to fetch things in deadly places. All in the hope that he would not return. That only she and Kei would be keepers of the lullaby once more. But of course that didn't happen as her son survived time and time again much to her dismay. Not only did he survive against all odds. He knew no other way of defiance of his mother but to spread her best kept secret. He tried to disobey her orders, but he didn't know how. It wasn't in his nature to. He told nearly everyone he met of the lullaby. Soon the greatest weapon of the Yuki-Onna became something mothers all across the spirit world would sing to their children. Something drunken spirits would sing in the spirit of the sake. Thankfully most didn't realize the power of the words they now knew. But some recognized the potential they had to change fate.

For that she would try even harder to kill her son. On this day the Yuki-Onna got her wish, but it was too late. There was no secret he left untold.

Kiyoko could hardly stand it. She was wise and intelligent. But she still had the heart of a child, and the memories she just witnessed were almost too heavy for her to bear. For his gift Kiyoko blew on the ashes. A blessing. A promise for a hopeful afterlife. He would find peace at last. Maybe with a library filled with endless books and knowledge, his true love.

With the house still burning around her she clasped tight onto the wreath of flowers. Taking one last glance at the wall in flames she sadly walked out through the flaming door. She normally would have skipped, like she did everywhere. Now was not the time for joy. Now was the time for a war. And though the child would have no part in killing, she would do her part as she now knew the lullaby.

Assuming the true form of purity she took off into the sky as a pure white dove. Flapping her wings she circled around the house once before taking off to the barrier of the spirit world. Leaving the burning grave of the son of the Yuki-Onna far behind.

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><p><strong>Sorry for the late update, I had trouble with the internet this weekend! No I did not forget about all of you! <strong>

**Due to the size of chapter 19 it will be divided into 3 parts. This is obviously part one, so snowflakes will be extended a little longer. If I were to put all three sections together it would be a MONSTER of a chapter.**

**Because of the late update (and also because I won't have internet access all next weekend) you will get the second part of chapter 19 either Thursday night or Friday morning. It's already been beta-ed and everything so there should be no excuse for me not getting the next chapter to you early.**

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><p><strong>Due to late update I didn't want to spend anymore time getting this chapter to you, so those with accounts I replied to the review using the system. Those with anonymous reviews who do not have accounts, or those I missed on the PM system, I have your replies here:<strong>

**HALL OF FAME!**

**Jikarashino Haruko – no I didn't forget about you all :D there were just some complications with this chapter. And don't beat yourself up over missing a review, I completely understand being busy! Life was crazy this week! I had finals and a ton of other stuff.**

**Iluvorangesanffanfics – glad you're excited for the sequel! COME BACK TO LIFE THE CHAPTER IS UP!**

** – I've always wondered where the sweat drop came from.**

**Fish – glad you're excited for the sequel! And no, I didn't plan on anything with baby Rin and big Rin having a connection, just a nice gesture by Chihiro.**

**Victoria Pendragon – I based Kiyoko a tiny bit off of my niece Anastasia, with the blonde hair and blue eyes, and as you said, stubborn as hell. But I changed her appearance some, Kiyoko has nearly white hair and icy blue eyes, Anastasia has dirty blonde hair and dark blue eyes. And OMG that would be awesome if someone did a picture of her. I would do one buttttt I suck at drawing XD**

**Miko Potter – Haha yes Haku is a 'dummy'. And you'll just have to wait a bit for the BIG fight. There's a small battle next chapter, but it's nothing compared to the third installment of this chapter. And ahhhh I can't get over how cute Kiyoko is! The Lullaby is coming I promise!**

**Asumi-chan – Hot guys jogging in the rain with white T-shirts….sounds like a very happy you! And a very happy me if I were to see that XD **

**Yuki-Onna means snow goddess or snow queen from what I've come up with from my research. And the first mention of the lullaby was in chapter 12.**

**And yeah they know about boyfriends and girlfriends, but I think with spirits it becomes a little different than boyfriends and girlfriends. Like something more powerful than that.**

**Yes children's purity is going quickly, which I'm very sad about. My three year old niece said the 'f' word the other day and everyone flipped the shit over it! I was so sad/ I wanted a symbol of purity in this story, and Kiyoko was the product.**

**OMG the baby crying and family reunion thing sounds horrible! I wish you luck!**

**Replies should get back to normal next week**

**Until then please review!**


	20. Part 2 The Battle of the Bathhouse

**Chapter 19 Part 2**

**Battle of the Bathhouse**

"**We'll fight them, sir, 'til hell freezes over, and then, sir, we will fight them on the ice."**

**-A Confederate soldier at Gettysburg, in The Civil War by Shelby Foote**

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><p>Boh loved being a baby. Though his mother confined him to childhood for the last three centuries, he enjoyed it. He grew up a tiny bit when his Sen was there, but after she left he decided he liked being a big baby. So with a few more freedoms than before, he decided to stay a baby forever.<p>

Giggling contentedly he raised a fluffy pillow above his head and threw it as far as he could. It was a game he invented to play when he was bored. There was certainly no lack of pillows in his massive plush room. Though he had all the toys and food he could ever want, he sometimes grew lonely. He didn't have many friends except Sen, and she was gone. He had Auntie Zeniba, but due to his mother's restrictions he didn't get to see her very often.

At that moment a pure white dove flew in through the slightly cracked window and landed on his shoulder. "Kiyoko!" He exclaimed recognizing his friend.

In that instant the white dove changed from its form into a small girl with bright blue eyes. She was sitting on his shoulder, him being much larger than her. "Boh!"

"Let's play!" he said excitedly, grabbing the smaller girl in a hammy hand and placing her on the floor below.

Kiyoko shook her head. "Sorry Boh, but we can't play tonight." She said.

"Why not?" He whined.

"Because there are bad things going on outside," she explained, "and I need you to talk to your mommy so she won't hurt some people. Could you do that for me?"

Boh stared down into the little girl's doe eyes. He was disappointed that they would not be playing tonight. "We'll play later right?" She smiled up at him and gave a curt nod, sensing his acceptance. "What do I have to do?" He asked.

"Pick me up." She commanded politely. He placed his large hand down at her feet and she stepped on the palm. Lifting her up so they were at eye level he left the silent question ringing in the air. "Down on the bridge a lady has sent some people to burn down the bathhouse…"

"A _bad_ lady?" Boh interrupted.

Kiyoko shook her head. "No, not a bad lady. She's just…confused."

Boh thought about this for a moment before deciding on "Oh."

"I want you to go down on the bridge and call for a ceasefire…"

"A ceasefire?" Boh interrupted once more. His childlike vocabulary unfamiliar with the term.

"Both sides stop fighting," she explained, "maybe have the ones attacking work for the bathhouse. The fighting just needs to stop."

Sensing his home was in danger he quickly nodded his assent. "Okay!"

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><p>The army sent to set fire to the bathhouse was small but powerful. The Yuki-Onna chose her army with a meticulous eye, that much was obvious. The majority of the spirits on the opposition were tall, erotic, and above all, brutal. Several were spirits carved out of blocks of ice. But there were the outliers in the bunch; the ones who made the ice spirits look feeble. Giants rose sky high, some with spewing lava as their hair. Those were obviously the arsonists.<p>

The bathhouse was not unprepared though. The entire populace, including customers, had been summoned to defend Yubaba's domain. The bathhouse militia was clearly outnumbered, but they would see this battle through the end.

Because the Yuna and sable spirits had no control over magic or the elements, they had been armed with wooden sticks, a much more dangerous weapon than one might think. Yubaba had locked her son away for this; she would not let her precious Boh in on this action.

Raising her hands in order to produce the spell she was aiming for, she whispered a quick prayer to Ka-Tsuchi. _Bless me_. Two simple words that held such deep meaning. With these words Ka-Tsuchi would add a small amount of her own fire to Yubaba's spell to make it much more powerful. A small red orb began to form in the vacant air between her hands and soon began to expand rapidly in size and heat. The fire spell she chose was no coincidence. She would fight fire with fire. The ice spirits who weren't arsonists would be melted. She released the spell.

The area where the spell landed immediately covered half the town in flames. Yubaba wasn't worried; it was nothing she couldn't quickly fix. With half the town two of the ice giants went also. That was the most powerful fire spell Yubaba could have used, and it barely put a dent in the army. It was clear this would be a battle marked in history.

If anything, the fire spell just made the oncoming spirits angrier and march with even more vigor than before.

Rin gaped as the small army drew nearer. She was sure she could handle one ice spirit at a time, as could her sisters, but they were clearly outnumbered. To get the job done it would take nearly one person to three ice spirits, and that wasn't even counting the arsonists. She inhaled deeply and gave a quick promise to herself that she would survive this night.

She turned to one of her sisters. They exchanged glances before giving one another a nervous smile. "Shogi tournament after this?" Rin tried to lift all their spirits a little.

Her sister smirked slyly. "You're on." She challenged. That was when an icicle impaled her arm. Rin's sister clutched it and fell backward. This was no ordinary icicle. It was tainted with poison. Blue streaks began to web from the wound. She wouldn't make it through the night if it wasn't tended to immediately.

Though she could sometimes be immature, Rin often felt the need to be the maternal figure. She acted as an older sister to Sen when she was here, and a mother to her younger sisters, and to the older ones she was a stern hand when needed. When that ice spirit lodged the icicle he did not realize what a grave mistake he had made.

Rin sprinted forward after locating who it was that had harmed her sister. One of the lesser ice spirits that was nearly humanoid. He was ten feet tall with blue frostbitten skin and white hair. He obviously wasn't prepared for an angry sable spirit to challenge him.

Upon reaching him Rin brought her wooden stick, which she used as an extension of her arm, in great swing around his ankles that toppled him to the ground. Before the ice spirit had time to think, Rin had straddled herself directly on top of his chest.

"Tell me, what did you use in those icicles?" She whispered in her sweetest voice possible. She leaned forward to where her lips were hovering over his. She knew the power a woman had over a male, and she would use that to her every advantage.

"Just a little rose poison." He replied, sultry. Rose poison. One of the most lethal poisons there are. It's extracted from the thorns of the white rose. After all, nothing can be so pure and pristine without being deadly.

The anger inside Rin flared to a thousand degrees, but she remained cool and collected. She looked into his lust-filled eyes once more before balling her hand into a fist and bringing it forcefully onto his neck. It snapped with a sickening crack and the life left his eyes.

She climbed off his large chest and ran back to aid her sister.

Sticks were striking, magic was flying, and bodies were dropping.

Yubaba managed to take out three or four ice giants by the time she felt her magic reach its limit. She was growing exhausted; she just wasn't the young witch she used to be. The three arsonist spirits still remained and grew ever closer to the bathhouse. She knew if she kept doing as she was, they would never stop. She needed the most powerful spell known, a spell that would certainly vanquish the small army, but very well might disintegrate her own self and staff. That was a risk she was willing to take.

She deeply inhaled to "By the power of the four elements. The sun and the moon. Aid me in this oh great deities. By this I vanquish…" she began to summon the deities help for her spell, but was quickly interrupted.

"Momma!" Cried a voice she would know anywhere.

"Boh!" She shrieked. "What are you doing here? It's not safe!"

"I want the fighting to stop." He commanded.

"But sweetie, I can't! The bad people will burn mommy's bathhouse down." Yubaba tried to explain to her child.

"Take them as workers. Don't kill them. They're confused, not evil." Boh argued. A small figure hopped off his shoulder.

Yubaba pondered this a moment. She _could_ take them as workers, but there was the issue of finding them jobs, and paperwork, and changing names…then she saw the other child in front of her. "Kiyoko!" She cried in surprise.

"Hi, Yubaba." Greeted Kiyoko. She walked past the crone without another word, completely unafraid of the fighting going on in front of her. "Excuse me!" she yelled in her soprano voice, just loud enough for all to hear. "Can you stop fighting for just a moment? Thank you!" She told the army. The ice spirits and arsonists glanced around in confusion, but none questioned the little girl.

"Yubaba, take them as workers. No more need to die." Instructed the little girl. "You can always use more workers, and they all need new jobs. They were enslaved by the Yuki-Onna and are not attacking by choice."

Yubaba finally thought this through. "Fine." She sighed. She walked forward fearlessly to the Yuki-Onna's army. She was about to speak when she noticed none of the spirits were moving except her and Kiyoko. "What did you do, child?"

"It's a holding spell," explained Kiyoko, "but they can still hear you. Go on and explain."

Yubaba sighed. She never could quite understand how a small girl thought of the simplest things that brought the greatest benefits. "I understand your predicament," she began loud enough for all to hear, "and I understand that you are not here by choice. For that reason I am offering you a position here in my bathhouse. Choose to accept and you will be allowed to live. Deny and you will be killed; it is your choice."

She smirked as she realized she had them locked in her grasp. Live or die. There wasn't much of a choice.

Rin, who was tending to her sister's wound, smiled smugly at the turn of events. She managed to extract most of the poison from her sister's system, there was still a little left, but not enough to be considered deadly. A long trail of blood trickled down her arm, but the wound wasn't deep. She would be fine.

Most spirits then took humanoid form and walked to Yubaba in surrender, some looked relieved. The three arsonists were now humanoid beings with dark skin the color of rich earth, and fiery red hair. They were clearly the only ones peeved.

She glanced at Kiyoko, who was chatting idly with Boh. "Oh!" Cried Kiyoko suddenly, as if remembering something important. "I have to go. Bye, Boh!"

"But what about play?" Whined Boh.

"Soon." Promised Kiyoko. Boh nodded in sad assent.

"Kiyoko, wait!" Cried Rin. A pair of ice blue eyes met her own deep brown. "Thank…" her statement of gratitude was never completed. Words failed her as the poison icicle implanted itself square into her chest.

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><p><strong>*curls into a ball and hides from the flames I'm probably going to get for the ending*<strong>

**Sorry it's a lot shorter than usual, but there just wasn't much that could be done for this part of the chapter. but i promise next chapter will be long and EPIC!**

**Review please!**

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><p><strong>Reviews went down a lot last chapter. Hope to bring them back up with this one! Please review everyone :D<strong>

**Hall of fame:**

**Miko Potter – thanks! And oh yeah you can totally use her! :D**

**Kutanka – thank you so much! Oh and Slovakia! That's a really cool place! I have a friend who's from Czech, and from what I've heard it's very similar. Thanks for your review:)**

**CrescentMelody – thanks!**

**Asumi-chan – haha yes you will actually get to read the lullaby! I think if I hinted and talked about it so much in previous chapters and didn't even have the decency to type it…well I think I might get a few death threats. You'll get it next chapter!**

**Vivid x Dreams – thanks! And no you weren't rude. I wanted to kind of delve a little deeper into Haku's thoughts this chapter, just to see what he was up to! I seriously don't think I could have found a better quote. I have an unhealthy obsession with The Hunger Games, so I've been listening to all the *released* songs from the soundtrack recently, and I heard that lyric and I was like OMG that's perfect!**

**Woodswolf – no internet for FIVE DAYS?...I. Would. DIE! And nope ;) I don't play fair! Next chappie though :)**


	21. Part 3 The Symphony

**This is XsnowXprincessX but I changed my pen name to coincide with one of my real names. My real name is Amelia(Emmy) Marie Libby. People call me all three of those names, but Libby is my favorite so that was chosen.**

**Chapter 19 Part 3**

"**Some say the world will end in fire,**

**Some say in ice.**

**From what I've tasted of desire**

**I hold with those who favor fire.**

**But if it had to perish twice,**

**I think I know enough of hate**

**To say that for destruction ice**

**Is also great**

**And would suffice."**

**Robert Frost, **_**Fire and Ice**_

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><p>The moon was unimaginable. It wasn't the cold but beautiful rock Chihiro imagined. No. it was much more than that. Instead of being a part of the moon, she <em>was<em> the moon. Each ray emitted from the surface was her. Every dipping crater was more than an ugly scar to mar the surface; they were the moon's battle marks. It showed that throughout all the attacks, all the times it should have been destroyed by an asteroid, it was still there. That was Chihiro. She was still there, sturdy and strong even though she'd been attacked a hundred times over.

She didn't have a conscious form in the moon, though she could sense things.

She knew that her human home was currently in flames and that it was the final resting place of one of the Yuki-Onna's sons. She knew how Kiyoko saved her human parents, something the little girl would be paid over several times for. She also knew about her little talk with Haku. Chihiro understood that the child was trying to make things clearer for him, but she wasn't hinting in the right ways for him to see that she, Chihiro, was the human.

She could sense Rin's spirit growing weaker by the second. A poison icicle. It didn't penetrate her heart, which would have killed her instantly, so she had slightly longer. But if not treated, Rin would die.

That should have been it. The thing to allow her to break away from the moon. Her sister said it would be something she valued over herself, but couldn't tell her what. This should be it. She valued Rin above so many things. So why was she still in the moon?

She saw the army advancing towards her home in Mount Fuyu. Defeating the army sent to the bathhouse would be considered a walk through the park compared to this. The Yuki-Onna knew Ka-Tsuchi would be fighting in this, so she chose her army carefully. Only the foulest, vilest, and most deadly were chosen. Though her sister couldn't die, she could be severely injured to the point of no recovery. She would be alive, but not really living. So why was she still in the moon?

The next thing she knew was Haku was in the middle of the battle field. A strange man with no pupils securely holding onto him. Haku made no attempt of escape. Chihiro soon saw why; it was because the man was holding a steel blade to Haku's throat. With that she felt herself slip and break away.

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><p><strong>(AN As my beta pointed out I needed to clear up some confusion. The 'symphony' you are about to read is a metaphor. There is no real instruments playing, they are just allusions to the characters. I thought the idea was cool and couldn't bear to take it out. So as I said, the 'symphony' is a **_**metaphor.**_**)**

Ka-Tsuchi fought steadfast and vigilant. No force could possibly cause her to fumble. She was the earth, strong and steady through all time, but when it began to shake in fury, none could escape. She was fire, spreading with lightning speed, scorching everything in proximity. She had no guilty conscience killing all these spirits. They all came from her and her sister, and now they were betraying them. A traitor was no more than scum in the crimson eyes of Ka-Tsuchi.

Her battle strategy consisted of raising the earth to peaks, breaking them away, and spearing the opposition through the heart. More than once she used certain fire techniques; though they were last resort as they did more damage to the earth than the army, but they were a quick and effective way to wipe out a mass of spirits.

She was wearing a thick red kimono with a certain pocket on the inside for holding the spear of creation. She would use it to deliver the final blow to the Yuki-Onna; it was the only weapon powerful enough. Because the Yuki-Onna still had partial control of an entire season, regular spells wouldn't do. She was a goddess, and goddesses don't tend to die very easily. Ka-Tsuchi had a quiver of arrows strapped to her back and a bow locked tightly in her hand; she and her sister's signature weapons. From their Greek derivation they were Artemis and Apollo; the twin archers. When one spirit had dodged an earth attack and grew a little too close for Ka-Tsuchi's comfort, she would strike them with a clean shot through the eye; she never missed.

Riku fought alongside her, despite his wife's protests he refused to fade in the background and let her take on an entire army by herself. He was the God of Mount Fuji; a highly worshipped and powerful deity. He could hold his own.

It seemed as though they weren't even trying to fight, the Yuki-Onna's army was rapidly depleting. A cry from a low voice then pierced the air. Ka-Tsuchi snapped her head around to see Riku clutching his left arm. A steel blade had embedded itself deeply into his arm. It had broken through the muscle and tissue so easily the tip was probably resting on the bone; golden blood spilled out of the gash.

Ka-Tsuchi stared in horror for a brief second before it quickly transformed to rage. She eyed the one who was clearly the culprit; a smug smile plastered on his face. He was a tall and burly spirit, the size of a large oak tree and made entirely of volcanic rock; through the cracks red hot magma was visible. He was no match for Ka-Tsuchi.

She screamed in rage before sending every stone in her proximity towards him. He faltered but regained himself. He was made of rock, it would be nearly impossible to kill him with that. Fire wouldn't do any good either; if anything he would feed off of it. The only element that might work is water to cool and solidify the magma; then she would be able to send an arrow through him.

But she wasn't an entity of water. She may have a small influence over the element, but it wouldn't be enough to douse him. What she needed was her sister; it would be nothing for her to raise the waters of the Kohaku River and be done with the thing. As if her sister had sensed her distress, a bubbling sound resonated from behind them. The army and Ka-Tsuchi turned to stare at the now glowing river; bubbles rising to the surface. As if on cue the water swelled and burst out in a tall stream to douse the magma. The hundred spirits eyes were transfixed as the water encompassed the arsonist. It swirled in currents as the magma visibly cooled from crimson red, to dull amber, to nonexistent. The water fell to a puddle around the beings' feet to snake back to the source, but not before snagging Riku along for the journey. He would be safe in the confines of the river and the water would heal him. The volcanic spirit was stunned to silence, as were the rest of the army. Ka-Tsuchi didn't hesitate a second before loading her bow and sending a golden arrow soaring through the air and into the eye socket of her prey. She smirked as he fell into a heap on the ground.

The battle then sprang back into life. Whole waves were attacking almost in a rhythm. A deep echo of the war she fought in so long ago; the one she couldn't protect her sister in. _Boom_, like the low beat of a drum an entire mass of ice spirits were taken down. _Ba-Boom_, two arsonists. The symphony continued. Harmony's blending so perfectly it was hard to believe the whole thing was being based on sight reading; the music fresh to their eyes. Whole sections were failing as their musical abilities could no longer keep up as the tempo hastened, and the rhythm difficult. The brass section failed, as did most of the percussion. The only drum left was the large bass, beating loud and strong. Its vibrato ringing loud and clear over the rest of the orchestra; a solid echo of the war so long ago: a steadfast reminder for Ka-Tsuchi.

Soon all the sections had failed, leaving dead silence on the battlefield. A single French horn remained, low and powerful it began to play the final note. A note of victory. Something wasn't quite right about this ending though, it was wrong. It didn't fit the piece; after the grandeur of the previous measures, the single note was out of place. This piece called for more, so much more. Out of nowhere an oboe picked up the tempo. It snapped Ka-Tsuchi out of her victory haze in a single clear note; no the song was not over; the sections were merely resting as the song to shifted into its next section. The French horn and oboe began their proverbial duet.

The Yuki-Onna emerged from a hiding place behind a tree, a cruel smirk plastered on her face. Her pale hand gripped the hilt of her ice sword tighter as midnight black eyes took in Ka-Tsuchi's dreadful appearance. The once kind crimson eyes were now glowing with rage and held the gleam of a hunter ready to pounce on its prey. Her hair had been whipped out of its high, perfectly groomed, ponytail and now hung in chestnut and vermilion lumps down her back. She appeared crazed, and the Yuki-Onna knew to tread carefully and swiftly over this unfamiliar territory. One step out of line would result in her death, but if she was hasty enough she could get everything she wanted and more.

The Yuki-Onna swept her onyx black hair behind one shoulder and prepared her sword to attack if it was necessary; raised just enough to ensure a quick slice if it was called for, but not enough to appear as though she was asking to fight, even though she was. Ka-Tsuchi gave a feral snarl and loaded her bow, but didn't make an attempt to fire. The song had come to a legato, the French horn and oboe holding out on their notes. Trying to hold onto the easy rhythm they now faced, but knew that soon they would be forced back into the complicated mess that had caused the rest of the symphony to falter.

The French horn broke out of the slow caressing notes and into a robust clash of notes as Ka-Tsuchi threw a fire circle around the two of them. The flames flickered high and dangerous with as much heat as a natural campfire, but flickered colors of the rainbow and emitted deadly power; the fire of life. Ka-Tsuchi had saved her best weapon as a defense mechanism. The fire of life wouldn't hesitate to take away what it gave, but Ka-Tsuchi knew this was not the right way.

The French horn began to play loudly and triumphantly; trying to drown out the sound of the oboe; not completely outdo it, but to play so loud and perfectly that the oboe could no longer find its place in the piece. Ka-Tsuchi sent flurries of arrows to the Yuki-Onna.

The oboe managed to dodge the majority of the French horn's attacks, but they left their mark. Ka-Tsuchi had perfect aim, but the Yuki-Onna could use the falling snow to maneuver. Some arrows hit, though, and the oboe's fingerings faltered. Finally the arrow, sent to penetrate the heart, hit.

With the fletching of the arrow protruding from her chest, the Yuki-Onna collapsed to her knees. Ka-Tsuchi wasn't fooled, though. The Yuki-Onna was a goddess and wouldn't falter so easily, only the spear of creation would take her life, she was just wounded.

The rainbow of flames flickered higher as Ka-Tsuchi seized her chance. She tossed her bow and sheath of arrows aside as she bounded over to where the Yuki-Onna had fallen on her knees, hand clutching her chest. Ka-Tsuchi reached inside her kimono and wielded the spear of creation. She unceremoniously ripped the arrow out of the Yuki-Onna's chest, extracting a scream of acute agony. The arrow had penetrated her heart, but it continued beating as if it was never a victim, and with every steadfast beat golden blood squirted out of the wound; coating her pristine white robes and Ka-Tsuchi's scarlet red ones.

She saw the hatred radiating from the Yuki-Onna's steely eyes, and raised the spear to enter through the wound, to pierce her heart of ice. The moment lasted longer than it should have, the French horn holding onto its moment of triumph over the oboe. Lingering on one note before it overpowered the oboe, to hear the oboe give into the complicated mess of sight reading, to hear it give a final screeching note before going silent.

The moment was too long; Ka-Tsuchi cursed herself internally for hesitating. In that split second when the whole thing could have ended, a whole new conflict emerged. The French horn died down and the oboe continued in its struggle to make sounds as two new instruments joined in: a deep low tuba that would have normally gone unnoticed in a symphony, but alone belted low and clear notes; and an entirely new section appeared, strings, as a low cello began to hum. Kei was inside the circle, pressing a knife to Haku's throat. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kei threatened.

Ka-Tsuchi stared for a moment; her already crazed red eyes turned feral. She screamed in rage and the flame of life flickered higher. She was stuck. If she killed the Yuki-Onna, Haku would die, if she didn't kill the Yuki-Onna…who knew the chaos that would emerge? She webbed her fingers in her knotted hair and screamed in frustration. Why was fate, the only part of existence above her, so cruel?

A new instrument entered the string section: a violin. High pitched and beautiful, keeping the melody. All eyes turned to see Chihiro enter the scene. Her skin had been stripped of the luminescence of the moon's blessing and was now its regular pallor. Ka-Tsuchi's face contorted in what looked to be a shadow of a smile, somewhat of a grimace. Her sister had learned to break away from the moon's curse. It had only taken her true love at blade point. The Yuki-Onna snarled at the sight of her, but the movement caused her pain. Golden blood still gushing through the hole in her chest. Chihiro stared at the wretched sight of the woman who wanted her dead. It was a pathetic scene. A memory rushed back to Chihiro, no, not a memory, a dream. A dream she had dreamed only a few short weeks ago on her first night back at the bathhouse. The same one she had woken up extremely confused from, but soon forgot. This was the dream, seeing the Yuki-Onna in this pitiful state. **(*)** Though she felt sorry for the woman, this was the way fate had things lined out. One did not test fate.

"Drop the blade Kei!" Chihiro commanded viciously.

"If I do, your sister will take the Yuki-Onna's life. Now, let's be civil about this and drop the spear Ka-Tsuchi." Kei retorted in almost a bored tone. Seeing she had no choice she lowered the spear; the French horn taking a rest as the piece changed into a new section, one where the spotlight was on the tuba and cello. Though Ka-Tsuchi lowered her weapon, Kei would do no such thing. "My my, what a predicament." He smirked and looked at the Yuki-Onna in slight disgust. "Now, I believe we have some business to sort through." He said, and with the hand that wasn't holding the blade he snapped his fingers and a feeble body lay on the ground. Salmon work clothes drenched in red blood. The once tan skin was deathly pale, and a chest faltered to move as oxygen tried to make its way to the lungs; an icicle protruding from the chest.

"Rin!" Chihiro cried and pushed past her sister to kneel beside the dying girl. The lips were turning blue and deep circles rested on her eyelids; she had a few minutes at best. "What do you want?" Chihiro pleaded.

"To make a deal," he began, "release her," he nodded towards the Yuki-Onna, "and I will give you the antidote to safe your friend's life. Only I can heal her, after all, the poison icicles were my invention; I can heal her if you surrender." Kei smirked, knowing the outcome. To prove he had the upper hand he pressed the knife a little tighter into Haku's smooth neck; a few beads of blood popped out.

Instead of her submission, she attacked him. Chihiro used the air as an extension of her arm and felt the nonexistent fingers wrap around the blade. In a swift motion she tossed it far into the woods. Haku collapsed to his knees and swiftly crawled away before Kei could realize what was happening. Kei stared wide eyed at her. "That wasn't part of our deal." He spit.

"It was never mentioned. The deal was you heal Rin in exchange for releasing the Yuki-Onna. Nothing of Haku was ever mentioned." Chihiro's gaze grew steely.

Kei spluttered as he realized he left that part out. He had been outsmarted. "Fine, but the offer for saving your friends life still remains. The clock is ticking." He taunted. The entire symphony came to a standstill as it waited for the violin to find its part. It was trying to play two things at once, two entirely different melodies that would change what the rest of the instruments played.

It was completely quiet in the fire circle; save for the Yuki-Onna's strained breathing. Chihiro stared down on her friend of so long, at one point she even considered her an older sister. She stroked the dying girl's auburn hair. "Okay." She gave in.

Ka-Tsuchi stared agape at her sister. What was one spirit's, an annoying one at that, life worth compared to ridding the world of a cruel entity? Ka-Tsuchi then realized something; her sister had a plan. She was always the wiser of the two; surely she had a higher motive.

"Fine," said Kei. "Take the icicle out, then pour this elixir in," he took a small vile containing blue liquid from a fold in his robes, "and your friend will be fine."

Chihiro hastily followed the instructions. Rin gave a barely audible gasp as the icicle was ripped from her chest. Upon the last drop of the liquid being poured into the wound, Rin opened her black eyes. She coughed violently for a few moments before staring at Chihiro. "You're such a dope." She whispered. Chihiro cracked a small smile, Rin was okay.

"Now we will leave, but do not expect this to be the last time we will meet. Next time we will not be so _gentle_." He sneered. He gave a quick glance to the Yuki-Onna, signifying for them to leave. She nodded hastily before slowly rising, her hand clutching her chest. Limping over towards Kei, Chihiro didn't notice the Yuki-Onna unveiling a sword of ice and raising it high above Chihiro's head. Chihiro turned around just in time for her to see the weapon being held above her. She knew it wouldn't kill her, but it would definitely hurt. Chihiro quickly swept her foot out to knock the Yuki-Onna off balance, which caused her to fall to the ground due to her weakened state. The ice sword scattered away.

"_That_," spat Chihiro in fury, "Was not part of the deal!"

Kei shrugged his shoulders innocently; it had been the Yuki-Onna's doing. With the enemy laying completely vulnerable Chihiro knew this was their chance. Rin was saved from death, Haku was out of Kei's clutches, and Kei was weaponless; an ideal scenario. "Ka-Tsuchi! The spear!" She called to her sister.

The crazed woman unsteadily walked to her sister. She gripped the spear of creation tight in her hand and raised it to penetrate the Yuki-Onna's heart. "No, let me do that. This is my fault." Chihiro protested.

Ka-Tsuchi shook her head. "No, I created her and I will end her." Chihiro sighed; she knew how stubborn her sister was.

The song was about to come to a violent close when a new instrument entered. A piccolo, small, high and pure. The notes sweetly telling a tune of happy times; it was out of place, this was a violent song. There should be no place for the pure piccolo, but it wiggled its way into a part that the piece would not work without. The piccolo was an essential instrument to the song. "Hi Mommy." A soprano voice said chimed in. All heads snapped to the source. An essence of purity entered the blood tainted place.

"Hello Kiyoko," Ka-Tsuchi breathed. "You need to leave, what is about to happen you don't need to see. I'll come see you later."

Kiyoko shook her head and walked past the stunned form of Kei, who made no attempt to stop the little girl. She shoved Ka-Tsuchi's arm aside so the spear was no longer a threat. The Yuki-Onna groaned as the child raised her into a sitting position. She managed to hold her back straight in her weak state. Kiyoko ignored the blood spurting out of the woman's chest and, to everyone's surprise, crawled onto the Yuki-Onna's lap and wrapped her arms around her neck. "Mommy." Kiyoko insisted. Everyone gasped. The only two Kiyoko ever called 'mommy' were Ka-Tsuchi and Mizu-Kaze, but for some unfathomable reason had now named the Yuki-Onna that also.

The Yuki-Onna sat in complete shock, she didn't know whether to shove the being aside, kill her, or let her be. One look into her large doe eyes resolved her. She awkwardly wrapped her arms around the small girl to pull her close. Her golden blood was coating Kiyoko, but the child seemed to not notice. Kiyoko nuzzled into the Yuki-Onna's chest and said "Will you sing for me Mommy?" the Yuki-Onna was shocked. She hadn't sung to a child in thousands of years, not since her human children had passed on. A child hadn't called her 'Mommy' in so long, was it a possibility that this could be her child? One look into her eyes proved her suspicions wrong. All her children had black hair and black eyes, or no pupils if it was a spirit child. But she would pretend for now that this was her child, if this was her last day alive, she would at least have something nice to hold onto. So she sang an old and cryptic tale.

The symphony fell silent as a new instrument made its presence, an instrument of song.

_Through the winter snow_

_The ice will coat you_

_As it chills your heart_

_It warms mine_

_To plow and seed and grow_

_To you, the heart breaks_

_And through the icy glass_

_You and I both know_

_That time is going too slow_

_Enter to the world twice_

_Find a loved one thrice_

_For she is my demise_

_And the heart still grows cold_

_The snowflakes fall on the ground_

_That you have planted for me_

_For me you've plowed, you've seeded, you've grow_

_And now it's time to go_

The Yuki-Onna had sung her lullaby once more as a mother. It was not as used by others in the spirit world as a spell, or even another mother. No, this time it was as if she were back in the cottage in the mountains where she had raised her human children.

She understood her lullaby, it told of her fate. She had tried to fight the lyrics for so long, but she didn't want to fight anymore. She had been so cold and cruel for so long and she never had time to properly grieve. It told her story, how her heart was once warm, but grew cold when everything she loved was lost. She always knew Mizu-Kaze would return; the one who had stumbled upon this realm twice. Now she truly understood;it was a stalemate, a fruitless fight.

She turned her head down to the child soaked in her blood and, to everyone's shock, planted a kiss on the top of Kiyoko's downy hair. Everyone stared aghast; the symphony fell silent as the oboe took her final solo; a melodious tune that continued where the piccolo left off. When she raised her head back to stare at the people she once saw as enemies, as threats, she had tears in her eyes. Only now was she truly grieving her loss; she could see the pain she had inflicted on all of them. She was sorry.

Seeing now was her time to leave, Kiyoko kissed the Yuki-Onna's cheek and crawled off her lap. The Yuki-Onna was now a mass of tears. She stared at Kei, internally wishing him the worst misfortune in life. He had used her for power and treasures, and for that he would never prosper after her death. That would be the last cruel thought she ever had, she promised herself.

Eyes reddened and chest heaving with shallow breaths, she looked at Ka-Tsuchi and nodded her assent. Ka-Tsuchi understood. The Yuki-Onna was done fighting; she had no desire to continue this. Kiyoko had been just what the cold woman needed, an essence of childhood and purity to break her icy heart. What Ka-Tsuchi would do would not be out of vengeance or to protect her sister. No. This was to end the Yuki-Onna's suffering, to send her to her human husband and children. The French horn blasted a note high over the oboe before it died down, allowing the oboe to have its final part in the piece. The spear entered the hole in the Yuki-Onna's chest cleanly and swiftly. Ka-Tsuchi pulled it out as soon as it had penetrated.

The oboe played its final note sweetly and softly; unlike the ending it would have faced earlier had the tuba and cello not entered. Now it was an echo of the piccolo, pure. The Yuki-Onna's eyelids fluttered shut for the final time; a ghost of a smile on her lips.

The fire of life flickered to encompass the Yuki-Onna in its rainbow. From the fire of life she came, and to it she would go.

When her form was gone, the group was in absolute silence as the flames flickered down. The flames had burnt a large circle into the ground and Riku was standing on the outside; drenched to the bone. His arm had been completely healed by the Kohaku River. He was about to scold Ka-Tsuchi for taking on the fighting without him, to joke about how she had probably just set the feminist movement forward twenty years, but when he took in the scene, he knew better than to say anything. Instead he walked over to his wife and started to smooth her wild hair.

Chihiro glared at Kei. Breaking the silence she said, "A deal's a deal. Go now and we won't search for you, ever. But if you even _think_ about stepping foot near the bathhouse, here, or the human world, you will be killed without hesitation." Kei gritted his teeth and balled his fists. He wanted to fight Mizu-Kaze, but he knew he would lose. Fight or flight, he chose flight and disappeared into the tree line. With the last flicker of Kei's robes, the drum beat with finality. The echo of the past was over; it was finished.

The group was then unsure what to do as they awkwardly stood in the middle of a battlefield, bodies scattered around them. Kiyoko was the first to move, making her way over to Rin who had curled into a small ball and the two began chatting animatedly. Chihiro smiled at the two and joined them, flashing a small smile towards Haku that took his breath away. He rubbed his neck, inspecting the damage; just a small cut, nothing serious. He was too nervous about what he was going to do when he confronted Mizu-Kaze about his feelings, so he made his way over to Riku and Ka-Tsuchi. Riku because he was a male and he understood these things, Ka-Tsuchi because she understood Mizu-Kaze better than anyone else. He smiled to himself at how human a gesture this was.

"Can I borrow you two for a moment?" Haku asked upon approaching them.

"Of course, what is it Haku?" Riku asked.

He shuffled his feet awkwardly having never been more uncomfortable. "Well…" no sense in beating around the bush, that would get him nowhere. "How do you think I should approach Mizu-Kaze?" He gestured to the lovely woman behind him who had taken the task of cleaning Kiyoko of the Yuki-Onna's blood.

Riku chuckled slightly to himself. He placed a hand on Haku's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Finally figured it out, eh?" He smirked.

"If you mean come to terms that the human is probably dead and that I love Mizu-Kaze, then yes." Haku said.

Ka-Tsuchi gaped at him, her crimson eyes as large as a deer's caught in a headlight and mouth dropped as low as gravity would allow. "I had Yubaba tell him the lullaby for a reason. It states the exact answer in the lyrics!" She hissed at Riku. Haku pulled his eyebrows together in confusion. This angered Ka-Tsuchi even more and she slapped him hard across his cheek. He stepped back stunned and brought his palm to his throbbing skin.

"What was that for?" He asked incredulous.

"Just go get her you idiot!" She ordered. Haku was happy to oblige.

She had moved away from Kiyoko and Rin to the banks of the Kohaku River to clean off a bloodstained cloth. She glanced back to see Haku walking towards her, "Oh, I'm sorry. I hoped you wouldn't mind…" Her explanation for tainting his river was never completed as Haku tore the rag away from her hand, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in for a fervent kiss. The violin and cello began a duet, one completely meant for them. One that could only have been written for them. They had never practiced, but knew their parts perfectly.

Chihiro was stunned at first, but soon melted into the kiss with the same passion. This was nearly everything she had dreamed of, her first kiss out of the billions of years she had been alive. She expected her mind to be racing a thousand miles an hour, as her heart was, but no thoughts came. The kiss was, in a very literal sense, mind blowing.

This kiss felt so natural, so right, Haku regretted that he had to be the one to break the kiss, but he refused to pull more than an inch away. He had something he needed to say. He rested his forehead on hers and gazed into her snowy gray eyes. "I love you." He said.

Chihiro's face broke out into a wide grin and she started to laugh. It was a joyful laughter though, one to signify her elation. "I love you, too." She returned. He pulled them into another kiss, one more tender and sweet.

"Well it's about time!" Two voices broke them apart. They snapped their heads over to see an amused Rin and an irritated Ka-Tsuchi staring them down. Chihiro paled.

Haku shrugged it off. "You're the one I love, but I feel like I need to keep searching for the human I lost. Just to see if she's safe; after a year if I find nothing then I'll presume she's dead."

Chihiro smirked and shook her head good naturedly before saying, "No, Haku. You won't search for the human. The search stops here." He began to protest but she pressed a finger to his lips to silence him. "But then again, the human was never really human. Maybe at one point she was, but not completely." She could see Haku growing more confused by the moment. "I remember the first time I met you Haku." She said. Haku's thoughts flickered back to a night in Yubaba's office; Chihiro's to something much different, much older. "When your river flowed in the human world, I visited one day. I was much smaller then, though, and wasn't the best swimmer." Now Haku was completely confused; she was the entity of water, how could she not be an excellent swimmer? "I dropped a little pink shoe in your river, I reached in to grab it and fell. You saved me Haku, and you've been my savior ever since."

She smiled as she saw the realization begin to form in his eyes. His eyes drank in her form, and even though her body was much older and the baby fat had decreased, there was an echo of the ten year old girl he once knew. The eyes had changed, and the hair had added white streaks, but it was still the same chestnut brown. But more than anything, he could see her soul. It wasn't the effervescent purple one that had belonged to the human Chihiro, it was a blue and white, but the essence of the two were the same. Then there was perhaps the biggest give a way: the purple band holding her hair back. "Chihiro?" He whispered, moving his hand to cup her face.

She nodded. He didn't know how this was possible, and at the moment he couldn't have cared less. He pulled her in for a kiss that spoke of all the love and things he wished he could have said to her in the past 8 years they were apart. Nothing could separate them now.

The violin and cello continued playing in their eternal duet.

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><p><strong>Well it's about damn time don't ya think? Hope the symphony thing didn't confuse anyone too much…as I said it's a metaphor, not real. I have no idea where I got the idea for it, but I didn't have the heart to take it out. I also got this chapter early to you.<strong>

*** see chapter 8 for mention of the dream. I realized that I had written that and never tied it to anything, and it could have gone completely unnoticed as I finished the story, but it woulda bugged the hell outta me.**

**Okay Rin's alive! You can stop with the death threats! Also, sorry if the Yuki-Onna's death wasn't this big bloody act of vengeance, I couldn't write it like that. I originally had it planned that way, but it felt wrong. So I hope you're happy with the alternative.**

**The song that inspired this chapter was 'Rampage!' by Todd Stalter. To listen go to: http:/ www. jwpepper. com/ sheet – music / search (no spaces) scroll down to where you see the first icon that sais 'listen' right under where it sais 'available media' and it will be the first listen. I played this song a few years ago when I played flute in middle school band, and it just popped into my head while writing this chapter.**

**WAHHHHHH! So….this is the technical end of the story. We've still got the epilogue…but this is the real end. I seriously think I'm gonna go cry.**

_**WARNING PLEASE READ**_**: the next chapter (the epilogue) has a possibility of coming late so please be patient as I have a VERY valid excuse! **

**My VERY valid excuse: I live in a section of the United States often referred to as 'Tornado Alley' which is, hence the name, where tornadoes like to happen. We just entered severe weather season which stretches from late February to usually the middle of May. On average we get at least one or two bad storms a week that threaten tornadoes. This is the cause of this chapter being posted early also. Today we had some VERY bad weather come through our city. Literally four tornadoes came through this afternoon (one literally was RIGHT in front of my house and I could see it, if it wasn't so scary I would say it was the coolest thing ever), everything's okay and there were no fatalities, but several power lines were knocked down because of them. Power has been very iffy for the past few hours and we never know when we'll have it so I figured I'd go ahead and publish the chapter while I had access, as I might not have power tomorrow. There's more possibilities of severe storms next week so the epilogue may come late, but please note this VERY valid excuse, and if it's not good enough for ya then bite me!**

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><p><strong>Only one more chapter after this! If within this and the ending chapter this story reaches 200 reviews I will seriously be the happiest person in the WORLD!<strong>

**Hall of fame reviewers:**

**FlutterbyBella – I didn't kill her! so am I cool again? XD**

**chocolateluver21 – sorry I had to leave it like that! I'm just evil XD**

**underneonlights – thanks so much! Yes, Haku is a bit of a dope. **

**M3c4nica – SOWWY! I'm just a tad bit evil. Thank you!**

**Jikarashino Haruko – thanks so much! You know, with just one more chapter to go I wanna thank you for being with me through the very beginning of this fic:) **

**Silver Sea Mist - *whistles inconspicuously* what? Kill a major character? Nope not me…*side steps off the scene***

**Kutanka – Diky! Yes I think it's a very cool place! Though your language is a little confusing for me, lol. I'm from the United States.**

**Skye Wolfe – I'm evil! Can't help it!**

**Vivid x Dreams – thanks! Yeah the Yuki-Onna is a bit bitter, but when you take things from her perspective she has a right to be bitter. But she has no right to do what she's doing.**

**Riley9797 – thank you so much!**

**CrescentMelody – well, it definitely wasn't the vengeance you were expecting. Though I hope you still liked it.**

**Jade Mahoneysuckle - *whistles inconspicuously* why are you looking at me like that I didn't do anything!**

**PiiXXiiEE – yes….it happened O.O buttttt….stop staring at me like that! **

**Asumi-chan – haha! Yes spirits can die, remember how in the movie, right after Haku was attacked by the paper bird things and was bleeding everywhere Yubaba said "He'll be dead soon anyways." So, yes, spirits can die. But not major gods, major gods of the Shinto religion can't die. But regular spirits, like Haku, can. Though they can live forever unless killed. Who knows how long Haku was alive before the start of the movie? After all rivers are millions of years old. Their bodies are just their physical form**

**Yeah Déjà vu is completely normal. I get it all the time. And no I don't watch any anime other than Hayao Miyazaki's movies. To be completely honest I'm not an anime person.**

**Shiori Kuroba - *glances around nervously* okay, Rin's alive; you can set the knife slowly on the floor.**

**chat noire – haha thanks! It did come early! You be sure to thank the tornado gods for that ;)**


	22. Epilogue

**Epilogue – Home**

"**For it was not into my ear you whispered,**

**but into my heart.**

**It was not my lips you kissed,**

**but my soul." –anon**

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><p>On a lovely spring day a woman by the name of Yuuko Ogino sat on a cushioned bench under a cherry blossom tree that was in full bloom. Her hands rested lovingly over her swollen stomach. The child she was carrying could come any day now, but she was determined to hold little Rin inside her for at least one more day. Rin would have her time to shine another day, but this day belonged to her other daughter.<p>

One of the two highest goddesses in existence sat beside her in awe of the purity of the unborn child's soul. She smoothed her chestnut brown hair away from her eyes. The glowing streaks that were once completely crimson now had forest green moving like water currents throughout them. Yuuko was still in shock of how identical her Chihiro and this goddess were. Even though the two were actually twins, Yuuko was unable to view it that way. In her eyes Chihiro was still her daughter, and this was a stranger that she had learned to love over time. Her vision was far from reality.

"You must be nervous and excited to see…_Chihiro_ doing this." Said Ka-Tsuchi. It felt odd for her to call her sister by her human name; she was only ever Mizu-Kaze or Selena in her eyes.

"I am happy, but It's difficult, I'll admit. I just wish she would have waited a few years, after all she is only 19." Tears began to pool over Yuuko's eyes; the hormones from the pregnancy were raging inside her. Ka-Tsuchi didn't have the heart at the moment to tell her that Chihiro was billions of years older than 19.

Ka-Tsuchi placed a comforting hand over the other woman's. Yuuko gave a soft smile and rubbed her stomach. "Oh!" Ka-Tsuchi suddenly cried; her sister was calling for her. It wasn't like the telepathy they were capable of; more of a bell ringing in the back of their minds. "I need to go," she said, "I'll see you at the ceremony."

"Of course," replied Yuuko, "It would make sense she would want you to do this."

Ka-Tsuchi stopped in her tracks before smoothing her grand crimson kimono, "Would you like to come with me? She can't contact you through her mind like she can me."

Yuuko smiled and wiggled to rise from the bench. Ka-Tsuchi had to assist her. "Okay." Yuuko huffed.

"After all, isn't it human tradition that the mother should be there?" Ka-Tsuchi asked.

"Well," Yuuko replied as the two began to walk to the doors of Chihiro's home in Mount Fuyu that was normally invisible to human eyes, but the spell had been lifted for this special day, "Chihiro is no human."

"It still would be nice for a maternal figure to be there. I had no one of family there when it was my time. My mother Izanami-no-Mikoto disappeared long before I had even met Riku, same for Chihiro. A mother should be there to help her daughter prepare for her wedding day." She said; Yuuko looked over and smiled at the other half of her false daughter.

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><p>"I repeat, if you do <em>anything<em> wrong to her. If you break her heart, make her cry, make her sad, hell if you even make her _frown_, you better have your will written." Threatened Akio jamming a finger into Haku's chest repeatedly.

Haku was an immortal spirit, and even though he wasn't afraid of his soon-to-be wife's human father, he wasn't about to make a snappy remark as he desperately wanted to. _"Just be nice to him, he means well."_ Chihiro had said, and if it was to make Chihiro happy, he would do it. He certainly owed it to her after he had completely not recognized her and turned her away; he should be groveling at her knees for forgiveness. He had long since passed it off as grievance over Chihiro, but he was beginning to suspect that there was more for him being unable to recognize her; the resemblance had been uncanny from the very beginning, and only when she told him of her identity was he able to truly see it. "I can promise you sir," Haku said, "I promise to make every second of eternity for her a happy one. I give you my word. Don't tell me you have never had trouble with your wife, hmm?

Akio spluttered for a moment, "What I do with my wife is none of your business. What is however is to make sure you treat my daughter right." Akio held him under a steely gaze.

"Ka-Tsuchi." Haku breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his soon-to-be sister in law walking down the hallway with a very pregnant Yuuko. "Do you mind if I accompany you?" He asked meeting her.

"Actually I do mind; you will not see her until the ceremony." Snapped Ka-Tsuchi.

"But –" Haku said.

"Oh Akio stop it, I trust the boy." Said Yuuko soothingly. Akio harrumphed unhappily, but didn't say a word.

Despite Ka-Tsuchi's protests, Haku followed in her footsteps before they came to a door; Chihiro's chambers. Haku smiled as he remembered all the nights spent in there with her, they were some of the best in his existence. With his acute hearing he sensed Chihiro's rapid heartbeat, she was very nervous. He wished he could run inside and kiss her until her heart beat rapidly for another reason entirely. But it wasn't to be as Ka-Tsuchi rudely slammed the door in his face. He pressed one ear against the wood to to be able to hear better what was being said. This also wasn't to be as Akio saw and dragged Haku away by the opposite ear. Haku's protests and 'ow's' were heard throughout the corridor along with Akio's lesson on Chihiro 101. "You should know by now she doesn't eat meat. Her favorite food is miso soup and rice on the side. If you wake her up before she wants to be woken up then I strongly suggest you have something to defend yourself nearby. Her favorite color…."

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><p>"Are you all right Chihiro?" Asked Yuuko concernedly. Chihiro was sitting on the edge of her bed, hair damp and she was wearing a pristine white bathrobe.<p>

It took a moment for Chihiro to reply, but she sounded nearly human when she did, "I'm freaking out mom!"

Ka-Tsuchi had to stifle laughter at the remark, but Yuuko had felt pre-marital nerves just like her daughter's. She walked over and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Do you love him?"

"What?" Chihiro's head snapped up.

"Do you love him?" Repeated Yuuko calmly.

"Yes of course, but-"

"And you never want to spend a day without him, am I correct?" Continued Yuuko in the same calm voice.

"Yes but-"

"But what?" Interrupted Yuuko.

"But….I don't know!" Chihiro cried exasperated. "I love him so much that I don't know what to do sometimes! But then I wonder how much he loves me because he didn't even recognize me! I mean what kind of person doesn't recognize their 'true love'?"

"That was not his fault." A new voice entered the room. They all turned to look at Zeniba who had been concealed in a corner.

"What do you mean Granny?" Asked Chihiro.

The witch chuckled to herself, "Payback for stealing my seal nine years ago." Chihiro gaped at her. "Oh, around seven months ago just after you had disappeared Haku grew very angry at me, and a dragon's fury is something very useful in spells. I used it to speed time up for three months until you had made your way back to the spirit world, but also in that spell he would never be able to recognize you for who you truly were unless you told it to him yourself."

All beings in the room stared agape at the witch who was smiling cheekily. "Zeniba!" Chihiro eventually cried aghast.

"Oh don't act as if it were a total tragedy," Zeniba rolled her eyes, "you had no memory of him, how would you have reacted if a seemingly complete stranger claimed you were his true love? Hmm?"

"But you said in the cabin that one time that he was an idiot for not seeing who I truly was." Chihiro said.

"I am very old dear; I know how to be a good actress." She said. Ka-Tsuchi's glare seemed to be growing stronger by the second. "Oh don't act so hotly Ka-Tsuchi; don't deny you didn't enjoy the slap across the cheek you gave him." Zeniba said; Ka-Tsuchi couldn't find it in herself to disagree.

"Don't be angry with Granny; everything is okay now and that's all that matters." Said Kiyoko, suddenly appearing next to Chihiro on the bedspread. Though her simple white sundress that she always wore seemed very plain, it was perfect for her and suited nearly every occasion.

No one in the room could find it within themselves to be angry with Zeniba any longer. What's done is done, and there was no changing the past.

It was Yuuko who broke the silence. "Well come on then, it's time to get ready."

In a matter of minutes the once soggy Chihiro had been transformed into the radiant goddess she was known as throughout the spirit world. Her hair had been dried by some heat waves Ka-Tsuchi emitted and it hung in cascading waves to the center point of her back; the glowing white streaks now held currents of blue – the same as her eyes. Very little makeup was applied to her face, only the very basics to even skin tone and highlight certain areas; she would be a natural beauty today. White roses had been woven into the right side of her hair, and when you looked closely small snowflakes were visible on the petals. She was dressed in a simple royal blue kimono with white swirl designs. "You look beautiful." Commented Yuuko who was trying to hold back her tears. "Come on, he's waiting." Yuuko motioned towards the door.

Just through the doors of the grand home in Mount Fuyu runs a river. By that river a ceremony that would go down in history would take place under a cherry blossom tree; the bonding of two lovers that had been separated through millennia, who had found each other when it was not a proper time to be in love, but through all odds had made their way here to where nothing could tear them apart.

When she saw him, she knew everything was going to be perfect. When he saw her, he saw eternity. They had been made for each other.

Each one of them made a small cut on the third finger of the left hand – something the humans call their ring finger. Chihiro looked into Haku's green eyes and felt the world come to a standstill. It was he who had to guide the two of them over to the bank of the Kohaku River where they laid their hands into the water, letting their blood mix with it. Several other spirits had come to witness the event, but they were confined to the opposite banks to observe. Only those closest to Chihiro – Rin, Yuuko, Akio, Ka-Tsuchi, Riku, Zeniba, Yubaba, Boh, and Kiyoko were allowed to be within the shade of the cherry blossom tree.

The water lapped at Chihiro and Haku's fingers, the water mixing with the blood to create a bond. The bond being formed was so powerful, so strong that no force could break it. When they rose from the water, Haku took Chihiro's petite hand in his own and their eyes interlocked. Emerald green meeting snow cloud gray and sky blue. His hand cupped her cheek and he leaned in to kiss her, and Chihiro knew she was home.

**"And so The Snow Queen also became a story about the need to seek equilibrium, in our own lives, with the natural world, even within the universe at large."**

**Joan D. Vinge**

**The End**

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><p><strong>It…it's over? Wha-what? Where does time go? It seems like only yesterday I was posting the first shaky chapter of the first real thing I've ever written, and now 23 posts and 3 and a half months later…it's finished. <strong>

**Just a few things before I say au revoir, adios, zbohom, goodbye to the story just a few little things I would like to say. **

**Yes the quote at the very end has been used in the story before, but I felt it was an appropriate quote to finish off with.**

**Miko Potter has written a lovely story using one of my original characters, Kiyoko, in it. I highly suggest you read it, the link is **

**http : / / www. fanfiction. net / s / 7884390 / 1 / Forever _ and _ Always (remove spaces)**

**Haha! It wasn't Haku's fault he didn't recognize her! I'm happy I left it to the very last thing, it left you all thinking he was an idiot through the entire story. He was under Zeniba's spell, oh the tricky witch XD**

**Yes I am aware the ending was fast, and yes I did it on purpose. I wrote the whole thing to literally every last detail, and hated it. I didn't like it one bit, so I played around with different endings and found that this was the only one I felt was right to end with; to let you- the readers- make assumptions about what really happened.**

**I have a feeling I might get some harsh words for this but…Well…I know I promised a sequel, and a sequel there will be! Just…not right now. I'm so sorry but I really just can't handle it right now! Competition season is beginning to start for skating, and not to mention the storms that are gonna be coming In quite frequently that I have no control over. **

**No telling when I'll lose power, and with competition season starting I'll be practicing routines at the rink four or five days a week and traveling nearly every weekend. It would just be too much! The only time I would have to write will be during school or really late at night, and that time has to be devoted to my novel I'm writing. **

**Yes I'm writing a novel, and I've even gotten into contact with some publishing companies, and I think I've found the perfect one! Things are looking great for the novel, and with fate willing, within the next year and a half I could be a published author! Though I'm not going to leave fan fiction totally, there's been a small idea brewing in my head for a little while. It will be a full-fledged fan fiction with plot and everything, but it will be posted in drabble form. It will be short chapters for me to have fun writing when I need a break from the novel, but with competition season, my novel, and fanfiction something had to be lessened so I can have some room to breath. But as soon as competition season is over, or until I've sent my manuscript to a publisher, the sequel is on hold. But I've left you with nothing hanging and gave you a happy ending! So that has to count for something right? Again I'm SO SORRY!**

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><p><strong>There are no words to express my gratitude to my FANTASTIC readers! If it were not for you this story would have never been finished, and I would not be taking the steps to begin my career as a published author. I mean really? Nearly 200 reviews (NONE of which were flames!) and 12,000 hits! There has even been a story written using one of my original characters! There's really no amount of words to express how grateful I am to you all, but here as just a few:<strong>

**Amayachida: thanks so much! It's updated, and over :'(**

**Vivid x Dreams – thanks so much! And say thanks to your cousin for me! I am a big fan of Frost, he's a lyrical genius! Oh and I totally know what you mean by the best stories being on hiatus! It's the most annoying and disappointing thing ever. Thank you so much for being there for me throughout this story!**

**PeaceLoveAndTokyoMewMew – thanks so much! That really means a lot!**

**Elivira – thanks so much for being there throughout the story!**

**Silver Sea Mist – Thank you so much for being there with me throughout this story!**

**Jikarashino Haruko – You were one of the first reviewers on the first chapter, and for staying with me throughout the entire story I want to thank you tremendously!**

**Iluvorangesanffanfics – OH MY GOD HISTORY IS THE WORST! IT HAPPENED, IT'S PAST! OKAY LET'S GET ONTO THE FUTURE! Grr…especially if you had my history teacher… she was horrible!**

**Asumi-chan – Thank you for being there with me through the story and your inspiring words! Okay…well to redeem my stupidity for the whole tornado thing, I was at first in my basement for safety. The sirens went off to signal there was a tornado going on, and the storm radio said it was like two blocks away from my street. Well…I knew there was going to be bad weather, but I didn't expect there to be tornadoes because I had forgotten from last year how common it was and I realized I left my laptop upstairs. I was like 'OH SHIT' because I was NOT letting that bastard tornado take my laptop! So I ran upstairs 'my mom was screaming at me the whole time' to get my laptop, knowing there was a tornado outside. Got my laptop, looked out the window, and I saw the tornado literally about a block away from my house. I screamed 'OH SHIT' again and BOLTED down back to the basement where my mom yelled at me, but it was all good in the end XD. Well…the blind idiot wasn't his fault in the end XD.**

**Anime-fan222 – thanks so much!**

**FlutterbyBella – YES! I'm cool again XD! Thanks for being there with me throughout the story!**

**chocolateluver21 – thanks so much! And it wasn't Haku's fault XD**

**irmaida – well it's over already. The whole thing was 20 chapters, but 19 was divided into 3 parts so technically 23 chapters, and I updated weekly almost. For about 10 chapters I updated daily though.**

**Skye Wolfe – Thank you for being with me throughout the story!**

**Jade Mahoneysuckle – Haha it wasn't his fault XD Thanks for being with me through the story.**

**M3c4nica – thank you so much! It made me happy to know that my story could emit such emotions from other people, not that I'm happy you're crying, but that my story did it. **

**Woodswolf – Thank you so much for being with me throughout this story! Your reviews were always awesome and never ceased to make me laugh, save for the beautiful poem you just wrote! That was very beautiful, thank you so much! And yes I do play the flute! I played for my three years of middle school, through 6 7 and 8****th**** grade, but I quit a few years ago when I reached high school.**

**I was literally crying while typing the replies to the reviews, I am truly so lucky to have such fantastic readers! When I am feeling uninspired and crappy about my writing I will always look back to everyone's wonderful and inspiring reviews, and if I become published then know that it was every one of you that made it possible!...now i shall go cry in a corner because I'm so sad.**


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